


i've been hiding it

by astinaea



Series: fateful coincidences [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akaashi Keiji-centric, Bokuto Koutarou is a Dork, Demisexual Akaashi Keiji, Getting Together, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Married Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Original Character(s), Single Parents, Slow Build, Teacher Sugawara Koushi, akaashi is a dad, cop bokuto, cop daichi, even more sappy confessions, eventually, haha happy ending sIKE its not over just yet, i have no selfcontrol, im back with more drama, its puke time again guys sorry, iwaizumi and oikawa are proud parents, jfc it took so long sorry, the angst is not that bad i promise, the official introduction of kamiko everyone, the sob story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-09-02 04:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 50,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8651764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astinaea/pseuds/astinaea
Summary: Akaashi Keiji thought he had everything he needed with his friends, nice job he enjoyed and his son Shouyou, until a certain Bokuto Koutarou barged into his life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> here's my first work for y'all... i hope people will like this (read it in the first place).  
> i'll apologize in advance for grammar mistakes; english is not my first language and i have no idea if i'm doing it right or not.  
> as you can see hinata isn't called hinata, his name is akaashi shouyou in this fic, just like kageyama will be called iwaizumi tobio. i'll just be calling him shouyou and tobio. also, i'm switching between calling akaashi akaashi and keiji. most of the time i'll call him keiji though, so it won't get confusing if someone else (one of the characters) calls shouyou akaashi. (since it's officially his last name in this fic-). iwaizumi and oikawa will be referred to as hajime and tooru, since they are married (i don't care it's still illegal in japan) and it'd be confusing since there are now three iwaizumis.
> 
> also, the title is from bts v's solo track stigma because yes-
> 
> well i hope y'all will enjoy it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the first chapter is a shorter one, and it starts of angsty ~  
> enjoy!

“Hurry up a bit, Shouyou. Daddy needs to be at work on time!”

 

“But-” the four-year old protested with a pout, “but I work there too, don’t I daddy?”

 

Akaashi Keiji smiled tiredly and ruffled his son’s fiery orange, untamable hair. Big, innocent brown eyes shot him a confused look, what kind of made Shouyou look like a lost puppy. But Keiji was strong. He’d known his son’s puppy eyes for more than three years already, there was no way he’d let himself fall for it.

 

“You do, Shou, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to hurry. Daddy can’t be late!”

“Me either!” Shouyou exclaimed with a proud flush on his chubby cheeks. He hopped off the kitchen chair and bolted past Keiji, into the hall.

 

“Quick, daddy! Help me tie my shoelaces!” Keiji rolled his eyes but followed the over-enthusiastic kid to the door.

 

“How do we ask things properly?” Keiji asked strictly.

“Please!” Shouyou yelled, not at all bothered by the scolding he’d received. Keiji sighed, but helped Shouyou put his coat and shoes on. Shouyou will probably give his teachers a hard time next year, when he’d go to elementary school, Keiji thought. He just knew Shouyou would constantly forget to speak politely just because he’d be too into a game or got too excited. He made a mental note to practice on that a bit this year. Then the two finally headed out.

Akaashi had a full-time job at a kids’ daycare he and his best friend Sugawara Koushi managed. He always brought Shouyou along with him. It was perfect actually; Keiji didn’t have to leave Shouyou with someone else and Shouyou got to play with other kids his age every day.

The daycare meant a lot to Keiji. Or more like Sugawara and the kids meant a lot to him. Keiji loved kids a lot and Suga had kind of been his savior a little more than four years ago. They’d been very close ever since. Akaashi could barely imagine what his life would look like if Suga hadn’t jumped in to help him. He’d most likely be dead already, very close to going insane or just an empty body. Suga hadn’t only saved his life, he had also given him a golden opportunity to start over.  Whenever it got rough, Suga was always there.

So yeah, Akaashi really loved Suga with all his heart. Not romantically, though. More like family. A brother. One of the best of the world. Or a mother.

\----

When they arrived at the daycare, it took Akaashi a few minutes to get Shouyou to sit still so he could unbuckle his seatbelt. The second he heard the familiar ‘click’ Shouyou bolted past him towards the entrance, where he jumped on the back of a black-haired boy, Iwaizumi Tobio. Keiji looked around him. if Tobio was at the daycare…

“Ke-chan! You look terrible, didn’t get enough sleep?” a way too cheery voice called out.

Yep. If little Tobio was at the daycare, the other Iwaizumis couldn’t be too far away. They were Iwaizumi Hajime and Iwaizumi Tooru, his other two best friends. They’d gotten married just a few weeks after he’d met Suga. The two of them had also been of great help too Keiji.

They had also been the ones to reassure and show him being gay didn’t matter in their group and they were responsible for Akaashi meeting and adopting Shouyou not too long after that.

They’d only just adopted the then seven-month old black haired boy with the striking blue eyes, when they were asked to adopt Shouyou too. They wouldn’t have minded another kid, but they knew Keiji loved kids and sent Keiji to the orphanage to meet Shouyou. Akaashi wanted someone else in his life he could take care of, so he could take focus off himself.

Keiji had immediately fallen in love with Shouyou and after that it hadn’t taken very long until the boy was his. Now, he’d been for more than three years already. In those years, Keiji had gotten nearly as close with the Iwaizumis as he was with Suga. They were one hell of a group.

There were only a few small downsides; one being Tooru’s obnoxiousness and popularity. Tooru was very beautiful; it was a fact no one could deny. He even was a part-time model, taking minor jobs like small photoshoots. The bad thing about that was that Tooru himself also knew this very well and constantly pestered others about their looks.

“Maybe I indeed had a bad night,” Akaashi mumbled, shoving Tooru aside to open the building door.

“Leave him alone, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi Hajime said, joining in on their conversation.

The two men had been married for four years, but Hajime still called Tooru 'Shittykawa' or 'Trashkawa', just like Tooru couldn’t let go of the nickname 'Iwa-chan'. Suga once told him they’d been friends since they were five years old and had been inseparable ever since. They’d always called each other that, even though Tooru was now also Iwa-chan. It was just how things were with them.

“Mean, Iwa-chan,” Tooru chirped. “I was just looking out for Ke-chan!”

“It’s okay, Hajime,” Akaashi said, sending him a small, tired smile. “He’s right, I didn’t get many hours of sleep last night. Shou had a really bad nightmare, he was really shaken up. He couldn’t get back to sleep, so I let him sleep with me for once. Wasn’t a very good idea.”

Hajime chuckled. “I’m not even gonna ask,” he said. Akaashi smiled again, looking at his son who was excitedly pulling Tobio towards the classroom. There wasn’t any sign that he could be tired, while he’d also been up almost all night.

First he had the nightmare, and when Keiji let him into his bed he was so excited he couldn’t stay still for more than five seconds. He couldn’t stop rolling around and shifting. He constantly kept poking Keiji in the back, asking if ‘daddy was still awake’. No, Keiji hadn’t gotten many hours of (much-needed) sleep. Meanwhile, Shouyou was as energetic as ever.

Akaashi followed the kids inside the classroom and was immediately greeted by Yaku and Suga.

“Keiji!” Suga called out cheerfully. “Good morning! Guess what, I met someone really nice on my way here this morning. I accidentally bumped into him and I dropped my coffee, then he bought me a new one!”

“That’s nice, Suga-san, tell me more about that later.” Akaashi replied. He didn’t understand how Sugawara could be so- so happy in the morning.

Suga noticed his usual grumpy face and chuckled. “Shou kept you up again?”

“Nightmares,” Akaashi muttered, looking at the computer. “Let’s see who’s here today,” he murmured mostly to himself. “Hitoka, Ryuu, Yuu, Shouyou, Tobio and Tetsurou.”

“Mrs. Kozume called in, Kenma didn’t feel too well so he’s staying home today,” Suga informed him. "And stop calling me Suga-san"

“Okay, Suga-san,” Akaashi said, “we have an even number today. Maybe we could do a game in pairs.”

One by one, the other parents arrived to drop their kids off. Tooru and Hajime also came in quickly to say goodbye to Tobio, before they were off to their jobs. Tooru worked as reporter for a sports magazine, Hajime was one of the photographers of said magazine. They worked together pretty often. They’d also managed to get the same schedule. They both worked from 9 to 5, three days a week. They managed to balance everything perfectly; they were home together with Tobio most of the week, they had a pretty decent income because they both worked long days and they were practically the best at their department. Basically, they did everything together.

Akaashi sometimes envied their relationship a little bit. They’d been through a few rough patches together and of course they fought sometimes, but it never got worse than their usual bickering. It was never serious. They’d been inseparable for twenty years and their relationship was so full of love but so natural that Akaashi sometimes felt a bit jealous.

He’d been through some bad times with equally as bad people. He now had pretty bad trust and commitment issues, the thought of liking someone himself really scared him. The only people he trusted with all his heart were his friends and Shouyou. Not even his biological family, since they’d kicked him out in the first place. His parents hated him.

The only sibling he had was eight years younger than him and barely got to see him after he came out to his parents when he was twelve. They’d first told him he was just imagining it, since he was still so young, but still kept his then four-year old sister away from him. When they realized that his view on boys hadn’t changed a year later, they got serious and told his sister Keiji wasn’t her brother. They didn’t let him see her even once for two years. At age fifteen, they finally kicked him out. Keiji yhought his little sister, Kamiko, must’ve been sixteen by now.

Keiji often wondered how she was doing, if she was happy, how his parents treated her, what she looked like, if she had a boyfriend, how she was doing in school, if she played any sports, _if she remembered him…_

But he would probably never find out. His parents had cut all ties with him and for some reason, his aunt and uncle had too a few years ago. Maybe to prevent him from reaching out to Kamiko. Keiji didn’t know, but it didn’t matter now. He was okay now. A bit lonely sometimes, but okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so kamiko means 'superior child' in japanese, i thought it was pretty fitting~  
> i hope you enjoyed it, the next chapter will probably be up next monday or tuesday.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; how to get suga as flustered as possible or suga is the mom-est mom to ever mom.
> 
> the first bit is just teasing and ridiculous people, the last small part is really sappy and a bit sad, i guess.

When all the kids were back with their parents after a long day, Keiji, Tooru, Hajime and Suga went out to get some food together, of course taking Shouyou and Tobio with them. The boys quickly ran off to the kids corner as the men took a seat at one of the close tables.

“So, Suga,” Keiji said, “I heard all about the nice man this morning, but you didn't tell the others much.  Care to enlighten them?”

Suga nodded excitedly.

“Oh, a nice man? “ Tooru crooned. “Tell me more! Was he hot? Did you get his number?”

Suga gave him a flat look. “Tooru, you're married.”

“I'm asking this for you, Kou-chan! I've already got a man, now it's your turn before you get too old.”

Akaashi didn't even try to hold his grin back when he noticed the small blush that grew on Suga’s cheeks. He had never officially come out to the group, but they all knew Suga was bi anyways.

“What exactly happened?” the ever-rational Hajime asked.

“Well,” Suga started, “I got me a coffee, ‘cause you al know I can't function properly without a nice cup of coffee in the morning and I suck at making it myself.”

They laughed. It was true; Sugawara without coffee in the morning was a list cause and his coffee tasted like cat pee. Once, he was late and didn't have the time to buy a coffee in the morning and kept falling asleep at random moments the entire day.

Suga shot them a disturbed look and huffed, then continued worth his story. “So then I walked outside, and someone bumped into me and accidentally made me spill my coffee all over my sweater. He apologized like a bazillion times, he was freaking out really badly. It was really funny.”

“Sadist,” Akaashi mumbled under his breath, laughing quietly.

“Then,” Suga continued, very pointedly ignoring Keiji’s comment, “then he bought me a new coffee, so I said it was okay. I had another shirt in my locker here anyways. Then he told me his name, offered to take me out for coffee some time as an apology and gave me his number. Then he freaked out some more and ran away. It was hilarious, really.”

After he finished his story, Suga’s cheeks weren’t the only red thing; his _entire face_ looked like it was on fire. Tooru whistled. “Does this mean what I think it means?

Hajime played along with him this time. “Did our little Suga get himself a hot date?”

“I’m not little,” Suga huffed, feigning hurt. “Just because you’re all taller than me doesn’t mean I’m little. I’m still the oldest here.”

“I’m older,” Hajime retored smirking. “Older _and_ taller.”

 “Just by three days!”

“Three days and five centimeters,” Hajime said, smirking. He was getting the hang of it, no way he was going to back down now.

Suga pouted, which shouldn’t look cute since he was 25 years old. It did, though. “Just stop it already,” he whined and turned to Akaashi. “Why don’t you call Keiji little? He’s the youngest!”

Keiji saw his chance to make it worse and _took it_. “Maybe,” he said smirking, “just maybe, it’s because I’m taller than you.”

Suga groaned loudly. “Alright, alright, I know it already, just _stop_!”

The three other men laughed out loud and Keiji decided to give Suga some peace now. He already had it hard enough with the strong blush that was still on his face.

Tooru, however, was a sadist and didn’t want to back down just yet. “Hey, Suga, was Boyfriend-kun also taller than you?”

Suga just groaned loudly again and smacked Tooru hard on the head. “That’s enough, guys. Leave me alone. Rather tease Keiji or something, he’s still the youngest!”

“’Kay, mom,” Tooru smirked evilly. Keiji almost choked on his laughter. _That devil..._

If it was possible for Suga to grow any redder, he did. They always used the mom-card on Suga when he went into a mom-overdrive. It _always_ shut him up and sent him into a spluttering, blushing mess that was hilarious to watch.

Suga _really_ was the group’s mom. Or at least, he acted like it. He was always looking after them, checking everything at least five times when they went out together. He always packed the lunches and the sunscreen and constantly checked if they didn’t forget anything, wherever they were going. He was always worrying and asked stupid questions, fixed their clothes, made sure they ate and drank enough, but didn’t get too drunk if he went clubbing with Hajime and Tooru.. (Keiji didn’t like drinking, or going to bars so he always looked after tobio on those nights. They didn’t do it often though, maybe once a month. Gotta be responsible adults…)

To top it all off; Suga always knew with one look what was wrong or how they felt, how to fix or scold them and see exactly what was on their minds. But there was one thing; for some unknown reason he got very flustered at being called their mom, so they used it to tease him sometimes.

Actually, a lot, but that didn’t matter right now.

After Suga had calmed down a bit, Tooru went in straight for the kill. “So, Refreshing-kun, do tell me,” he said with a sultry sweet voice, using his very old nickname for Suga, from back in high school when they were rivals. “Who exactly _is_ Boyfriend-kun?”

“I’m not telling you,” Suga said, stubbornly shaking his head. “And I told you all to quit calling me ‘mom’. Tooru, his name isn’t Boyfriend-kun, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s just someone I met and I’m going to get coffee with-“

“Which is, most of the time, referred to as a date,” Hajime butted in, “You know, this so-called ‘getting coffee with someone I met one faithful day’.” He usually laid low in their friendly bickering, but he was obviously seeing the fun in the situation. It wasn’t often Suga got so flustered over something other than being called mom, so they all took advantage of it.

“Please, not you too, Hajime,” Suga called out exasperatedly. “Really, it isn’t a date, it’s just a friendly apology for what happened this morning!”

“Ah, okay,” Keiji said, not wanting to let Hajime have all the fun. “Then if it’s only a friendly apology, it wouldn’t really matter if you told us his name, would it, mom?”

Tooru let out a weird choked snort, hiding his mouth behind his hands.

“No,” Suga said strictly. “I’m not telling any of you anything, because once you have a name it won’t be long until you’re stalking him together and you’ll probably find him and tell him horrible things and try to match-make and scare him off. I’m not telling you his name.”

“Wasn’t really planning on all that,” Keiji teased, “but it’s actually not a bad idea.”

“Since you’re so scared of us scaring him off, are you sure it’s just a ‘friendly apology’? And don’t worry, we’ll find him anyway,” Hajime added with a seemingly permanent sly smirk plastered on his face. Tooru couldn’t keep it together anymore and burst out laughing.

Sugawara’s eyes widened. Then he just groaned once more and let his head fall forward onto the table. “You guys are horrible,” he whined, “I hate you all.”

“There, there,” Keiji said dryly and patted Suga’s hair a few times. then he stood up. “It’s getting late for Shouyou, time to go home,” he said, mainly to himself and stretched his arms out above his head. Then he looked over at the kid’s corner, where Tobio and Shouyou were still drawing together, silently bickering together. “You coming, Shou?” he called out.

The smaller boy looked up from his drawing, beamed widely at his daddy and almost _bounced_ towards Keiji, flailing a paper in his hand. “Look daddy, I drawed us!” he exclaimed excitedly, pushing the paper in Keiji’s face. On it were two messily-colored stick men. One was really tall with a black head and the other was extremely short next to the taller man and had an orange-colored head. They held hands and both wore big smiles on their faces. Above the big one was scrawled in messy handwriting ‘daddy’ and above the small one ‘me’.

A fond smile grew on Akaashi’s face as he picked Shouyou up and hugged him closely. Shouyou hugged him back, nuzzling his small face in Keiji’s neck. “Do you like it daddy?” he then asked, almost shyly, and Akaashi nodded.

“I love it, Shou,” he then said. “We can put it on the fridge at home, okay?”

“Yeah!” Shouyou cheered. “Then we can look at it every day!”

“Yep,” Keiji said, putting Shouyou back on the ground. He took the boy’s hand in his own and waved a goodbye at his friends with the other. Then they went to the car.

\---

About half an hour later, Shouyou laid in his bed. Keiji had just finished reading him his bedtime story, when Shouyou asked a question Keiji hadn’t quite expected.

“Daddy, why don’t I have a mommy?”

Keiji involuntarily stiffened. “What- Why do you ask that, Shou?”

“Well, Noya was brought to work by his daddy today, but then a woman came to pick him up and she said she was Noya’s mommy. And I don’t have a mommy. Why?”

“Well,” Keiji said, racking his brain for a good response to a four-year old boy who didn’t know he was _adopted_. “You-You know how it works, right?”

Shouyou nodded with a solemn look on his face. “I do, ‘cause I’m a big boy. It’s when someone _really_ loves someone else, they get a kid.”

Keiji nodded. “That’s right. And you know, sometimes that’s a mommy and a daddy, like with Noya, but sometimes someone can have two mommies or two daddies. Just like Tobio, he has two daddies. That’s because his daddies don’t like girls. And- Your daddy doesn’t like girls either, I only like boys. So that’s why you don’t have a mommy.”

Keiji relaxed a bit and mentally patted himself on the back. That wasn’t that bad, right?

“So-” Shouyou mumbled, looking deep in thought. “So one day I’ll also have two daddies?”

Keiji stroked Shouyou’s unruly hair and gently pushed him down so he could tuck him in. “Maybe,” he softly said, “but I can’t promise anything. For the time being, I think we’re a pretty good family on our own, don’t you think? As long as we’re together, Shou.”

The little boy still looked a little confused. “… So I’ll never have a mommy, but maybe another daddy later?”

“Yeah,” Keiji smiled, happy Shouyou didn’t make a very big deal of it. Still, Keiji was a bit scared he’d be upset. Would he want a mother anyways, or would he not care about that?

“But even if I get another daddy, you’ll always stay with me, right?” Shouyou asked him, looking up at Keiji with those bright, big brown eyes of his.

Keiji couldn’t help but think of his own parents at this, remember how they’d been good and lovely parents until they found out about his sexual preferences. Until they abandoned and dumped him. At least Keiji didn’t have to be scared of one thing; turning out like that. He would never, ever be able to abandon Shouyou or even make him feel slightly shut out.

“Yeah. Forever, Shou. I’ll always stay with you,” Keiji promised.

“Why are you crying, daddy?” Shouyou asked him. Softly, worriedly. Only then Akaashi noticed how his cheeks had gotten damp and his sight had gotten slightly blurry by his tears. He felt a small hand wipe at the wetness on his cheeks and smiled widely, fondly.

“Are you sad, daddy?” Shouyou asked with a concerned voice. Keiji’s smile grew wider through his tears and bent down to hug Shouyou, pressing a soft kiss to his son’s forehead. _His son._ Akaashi felt like his heart could collapse by how much love he felt for the little boy in his arms, adopted or not.

“No, I’m not sad, Shou,” he murmured contently. “They’re happy tears. I cried because of how happy I am.”

“Oh.” He felt the relieved sigh more than he heard it.

“I love you, Shouyou. I love you very, very much,” Keiji said. Then he felt Shouyou’s arms little arms wrap around his chest. Or well, he tried to.

“Love you too, daddy.”

Akaashi pressed another kiss on Shouyou’s forehead and laid the boy back down again, carefully taking his arms off Keiji’s upper body. “Goodnight, Shou.”

“Night,” Shouyou sleepily muttered, blinking slowly. The content smile didn’t leave Akaashi’s face as Shouyou waved at him in a sleepy haze. Then Keiji shut the lights off save for the small nightlight beside Shouyou’s bed, left the room and softly closed the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; they finally meet, iwaoi is uncharacteristically adorable, the wig incident and a very perceptive akaashi.

It’d already been a few weeks, almost two months, since Sugawara had told them about the man that had spilled his coffee all over him. They’d went out on the date, or ‘friendly apology’ as Suga himself had liked to call it. It didn’t stop at one time though. They went out together a second time, and a third time, and then a few more.

On their first actual date, they went to a very fancy restaurant. After that, his friends had come over to his house and Suga had (finally) officially come out to them and gushed to them about how ‘good-looking and adorable’ the man was. It was more than clear to all of them that Suga had it _bad_. They also finally got a name; Sawamura Daichi. Apparently Tooru and Hajime were already friends with him and Sawamura’s roommate.

They were both cops and since Akaashi had no idea who the men were, he could only guess what he looked like with everything Suga told him. Surprisingly enough, Suga was the first to grow a vagina and confessed his feelings first, Sawamura quickly following. They’d now been dating for a little less than two weeks and Tooru had all-but forced Sawamura and his friend to have a meet-the-friends dinner. That was tonight.

Keiji couldn’t say he wasn’t curious about Sawamura and his friend. He really wanted for Suga to have found a good boyfriend. There sure as hell would be some interrogation tonight, Keiji didn’t care about all the times Tooru and Hajime had told him Sawamura was a good man. Keiji wanted to see that for himself.

He’d asked a friend who also worked at the daycare, Yaku Morisuke, to look after Shouyou and Tobio for the night. He’d arrived perfectly on time, but Shouyou hadn’t wanted to let go of Keiji, so it took a small scolding and a promise of two stories the next night. Now Keiji was running late. He _hated_ being late. Ten minutes later than their agreed time, he locked his car and walked up to the restaurant.

Keiji couldn’t immediately find his friends. Looking around him, he suddenly heard a very… _distracting_ sound. He didn’t catch what the person had said, it was the way they said it that had caught his attention. The voice was deep and strong. There was something special about it, though. It sounded a bit pitched, like he was laughing and it almost sounded like... like hooting?

Keiji turned in the direction the voice came from and immediately something else caught his attention; a man (probably?) with two-colored hair. It was mainly white, with black streaks in it. It was a bit spiked up and the color combination made it look weird, but at the same time Keiji thought it looked good.

Then he noticed the person with the weird but good hair was sat at the same table as his friends. Or he was Suga’s new boyfriend (who must’ve dyed his hair then), or this person was Suga’s boyfriends best friend. Keiji assumed the latter. Suga had already spilled some details about his crush- boyfriend now, Keiji had to remind himself. He’d said he had short, black hair. He hadn’t said anything about (not very short) wild and dyed hair.

Keiji smiled to himself and started to walk towards the table. Tooru was the first one to see him and started to wave at him enthusiastically and didn’t stop until Keiji stood next to the table. “You don’t have to wave, idiot,” Keiji said to Tooru exasperatedly, but the amusement was evident in his voice. “I already saw you guys.”

When he set another step forward, he was able to see the other unknown man that sat with his friends. This one _did_ have the mentioned short black hair and a friendly, open face. Just as Suga had described him. He was sat between Suga and the man with the loud hair.

“I take it that you’re Sawamura?” Keiji asked the man politely, offering his hand to shake.

The man smiled at him. “Yeah, I am Sawamura. Sawamura Daichi. You can just call me Daichi,” he said, shaking Keiji’s hand. He seemed nice, but Keiji wasn’t planning to let him off the hook that easily. He would definitely have to interrogate the man at some point tonight. He needed for Suga to have a _good_ boyfriend and hoped Sawamura could be just that. If not, Sawamura would be in for a wild ride. The four friends were _very_ protective of each other, and if Sawamura ever hurt Suga he’d have to deal with Tooru, Hajime and Keiji, who were each not the slightest bit unfit.

“Oh,” Sawamura spoke up again, gesturing to the man beside him. The latter had constantly kept his gaze on the table and still didn’t look up. “This is my best friend, Bokuto Koutarou.”

Then he –Bokuto- _did_ look up. Keiji was – to be very honest – shook. Bokuto had the most gorgeous golden eyes Keiji had ever seen. When Keiji shook his hand to introduce himself, he didn’t really feel like letting go. Bokuto’s hands were pretty big compared to Keiji’s, and warm, and strong…

“I-I’m Akaashi Keiji,” he said. _Dammit Keiji_ , he thought. _Get it together. You can’t let yourself go like this, keep your composure. You’re an adult, think of Shouyou. You’re swooning like a high school girl._

“Bokuto Koutarou,” Bokuto said – holy _shit_ his voice -  and let go of Keiji’s hand. “But I guess Daichi already spoiled it.”

Keiji smiled. Yes, this was most definitely the nice voice he’d heard upon entering the restaurant a little while ago. He could listen to Bokuto talk for hours, and then he still wouldn’t get tired of that voice – _damn_.

Keiji’s hand still tingled a bit after he’d sat down next to Tooru, right across Bokuto. The latter turned to Sawamura and whispered not-so discreetly “shit dammit, Dai! You never told me Koushi-san had a friend this beautiful!”

Sawamura whispered something back at him Keiji didn’t catch, because Sawamura was obviously _a lot better at whispering_ than Bokuto _._

The latter’s words had left Keiji’s mind reeling. Had he been talking about him? _No, probably not,_ Keiji then thought. _Bokuto probably meant Tooru. He was a part-time model after all._ Keiji felt kind of bad for wanting Bokuto to have said those words about _him_. he wasn’t sure how to react though, so he just copied his friends’ smirks. Bokuto blushed a little, and Keiji caught himself thinking it looked cute, but quickly pushed the thoughts away.

Then Bokuto grinned as well. “Well, it’s not like he isn’t pretty, you gotta admit that,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Sawamura and Suga both were shaking their heads, laughing.

“You’re a very special snowflake, Bokuto-kun,” Suga chuckled under his breath.

Tooru, who sat next to Keiji, flung his body over Keiji’s, jokingly giving him a once-over. “Hm, not so bad indeed, Ke-chan!”

Keiji felt his cheeks slowly growing hotter. So Bokuto had actually been talking about him? or was Tooru just messing around with him? Maybe Tooru heard it wrong. Yeah, that must be it.

Tooru turned around to Hajime. “Just look at him, Iwa-chan!” he dramatically cried out. “Don’t you agree?”

“Hmm,” was all Hajime said, not taking his eyes off Tooru. He smiled warmly at his husband and kissed Tooru’s cheek. Keiji felt a smile grow on his face. He was really happy to see how good the two were for each other. They were the embodiment of ‘meant to be’, their relationship had been such a natural and obvious thing from the first moment Keiji had known them.

Keiji’s thoughts were interrupted by a weird sound, a mix of cooing and squealing. Not so surprisingly, it was Bokuto who’d made the sound. “They’re so cute it’s disgusting,” he whispered to himself, softer now but still clearly audible to keiji. Aside from himself, it seemed like Sawamura was the only other one who’d heard it.

Keiji could just barely keep a grin back. Bokuto hit the nail right on the head, it was exactly what he’d thought of them in the beginning. Their love was so cute and easy… It was tooth-rottingly sweet, but at the same time they always bickered and called each other names. That only made it cuter, though.

Keiji wasn’t so sure what to think of Bokuto. Keiji admitted the man was gorgeous – how could he not. Judging his looks, you wouldn’t expect for him to be as silly as he was. He had been making bad jokes _all the time_. At the moment, Bokuto was literally howling with laughter at his own joke, left completely unable to speak. Suga wasn’t doing much better, and Hajime almost looked… impressed?

“How did that thing manage to land _exactly_ on your head?” Tooru asked, softly laughing to himself.

“I’d like to know that too,” Sawamura said exasperatedly.

Sawamura Daichi wasn’t so bad, Keiji then decided. Tooru already seemed to have warmed up to the man completely, but they’d been acquainted for a long time already. Hajime was the same, even though he usually took a lot longer to warm up to people and let them into their little family.

Sawamura was open, straight forward and honest, and Keiji had to admit he liked those traits. Sawamura might just be good for Suga. He needed someone he could trust and lean on, someone to keep him from flying too high. To Keiji, Sawamura seemed like he would be able to do that for him.

Keiji quietly observed Sawamura and Suga interact for a little while. He couldn’t deny they looked good together. They weren’t similar in looks at all, and their personalities seemed to have a few major differences too, but they balanced each other out perfectly.

Where Sawamura was a little stoic, Suga was teasing and got him out of his shell. Where Suga was easily distracted, Sawamura was ever patient and made sure Suga didn’t feel left out when he forgot what they were talking about. Suga was an absolute mom, while Sawamura sent off more dad-like vibes. Suga was a lot slyer and teasing than his angelic looks let on, and Sawamura was easily flustered and a bit shy despite his strong image.

Keiji was really glad to see Sawamura made Suga happy. Suga had always been fussing over Keiji like a mother, looked out for him, made sure he was happy, worrying for him… Suga was always there for Keiji. Really, if anyone deserved all happiness in the world it was Suga. So yes, Sawamura was _Approved_ by Keiji.

And then there was the thing with Bokuto. If Sawamura was joining their family, there was no doubt Bokuto would come along. Keiji didn’t think he minded that, but he didn’t want their group to change too much. He wasn’t sure what to think of Bokuto yet. The man looked nice and trustworthy. He gave Keiji vibes that were similar to Sawamura’s, except a lot more chaotic and energetic. A bit more like a puppy. Bokuto really couldn’t keep still for more than five seconds – Keiji had kept count.

Bokuto was constantly swinging his feet, kicking his legs out under the table, tapping the table with his fingers, looking around… He never kept his focus on anything for a very long time. He talked very animatedly, with his (pretty) loud voice and big arm gestures. (Keiji very, very pointedly ignored that first thought.)

In short, Bokuto Koutarou was a huge, bright ball of way too much energy and enthusiasm and beautiful eyes and a pretty smile. (Keiji very, very, very pointedly agreed _those_ thoughts too.)

Keiji hated to backtrack, but the _arm gestures_. Bokuto had taken off his coat and was wearing a simple t-shirt underneath. Whenever he was talking wildly, his arms were on full display and holy _shit he had such good arms_. (At this point Keiji chose to just ignore all of his thoughts, since he found they were getting quite out of hand. Why was he even paying attention to things like that?)

Sure, Bokuto was very attractive, but even though Keiji was gay, attractive men had never really been distracting for Keiji. He checked them out, once, maybe twice, but he’d never gotten so _grossly fascinated_ by a man before.

As Keiji kept scolding himself for his thoughts, Bokuto had finally sobered up a bit after laughing so hard at retelling Sawamura’s embarrassing story. “But did I already tell you about that time when he-” was all Keiji heard him say before he lost focus. He turned his eyes from Bokuto to the wet streets outside the window. It was raining softly, and Keiji liked watching all kinds of people hurry through the streets. He always couldn’t help but wonder. Who were they? Where did they come from? Where were they going?

Keiji’d liked watching people ever since he started his… recovery. When Suga ‘rescued’ him, he was in a dark place. Watching other people, speculating about their lives instead of having to think about his own calmed him down. Even though he had nothing to worry about now, he still did it. It had kind of gotten a nervous habit and at the moment, Bokuto was making him nervous,

Keiji didn’t like that he couldn’t completely read the older man. He could guess some things about him, but he was still like a mystery to Keiji, and he didn’t like the secrets. He was used to being able to outsmart people when needed, was used to being able to figure everything out with his observation skills. Now, he couldn’t and to Keiji, it was beyond frustrating. Then and there, he decided he would make it his mission to figure out everything there was to Bokuto Koutarou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I really like this chapter.. It doesn't really flow in my opinion and it's very long compared to the lengths of my other chapters. Sorry it's so late, I meant to update this literally a week ago. Chapter four will probably be up Friday or Saturday. Hope you enjoyed it, please leave kudos or a comment if you'd like?!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled: in which bokuto and akaashi are bothered by their friends and are highly convinced theyre hallucinating.  
> *i think ill keep doing this, its fun (¬‿¬ ) *  
> this chapter includes a lot of over-excessive use of italics and even more sighing. enjoy.

** Bokuto Koutarou **

Bokuto Koutarou wasn’t sure what to do or say on the way home. Tooru and Hajime had left a little earlier and halfway Akaashi and Sugawara also parted ways with them. Daichi seemed like hee was still on a Suga high and sighed dreamily every few minutes. While Bokuto… well, in short; he was starstruck by the man called Akaashi Keiji.

He was just so… beautiful and he looked so _pure_ and _angelic._ Now that Bokuto thought about it, Daichi had used those exact words to describe his boyfriend to Bokuto. “He’s naturally beautiful and his hair makes him look like an angel and he looks so sweet and innocent and pure but he's actually a little devil,” had been his exact words.

Bokuto grinned to himself. Suga had indeed seemed nice, but sneaky to Bokuto. Not sneaky in a bad way, though. He was usually pretty good at reading people and their personalities, and he was glad to see Suga mage Daichi happy.

It was visible in the small details; how they sometimes snuck each other soft smiles as the restaurant and the way they seemed to fit together perfectly. “You picked a good one, Dai,” Bokuto said. “I highly approve.”

Daichi blinked slowly, then smiled.  “Yeah,” he said softly. “He’s a good one. His friends are nice too, I don't think any of them wants to murder me yet.”

Bokuto chuckled. “But you know that if anything bad happens between you and Suga, you're a dead man. They’’ll all be _so_ ready and willing to kick your ass into next year.”

Daichi chuckled as well.  “Good thing I'm planning on keeping him, then.” Bokuto grinned. “No, but really, Bo,” Daichi continued, “don’t you agree with me that he had really nice friends?”

“Ooh, no, Dai,” Bokuto laughed, backing up a bit. “I know where you’re going with this and _no._ ”

“Didn’t you like the skinny dark-haired one a lot? What was his name again?” Daichi continued, blandly ignoring Bokuto’s protests, sporting a sly smirk.

“.. Akaashi,” Bokuto mumbled, looking at the ground. “Don’t make such a big deal of it. He was really pretty, but that’s it okay?”

“I didn’t say anything,” Daichi innocently said, “but is that really all?”

“Dammit Sawamura,” Bokuto mumbled in a low voice, “how old are you? No, that’s not all. I mean- he was also really pretty and his laugh was super nice. But it’s nothing. Happy now?”

They walked in silence for a little bit, until Daichi said “Sorry, Bo. I didn’t mean to push you like that. I just think you’d totally make a good couple and he’s single, so..”

“Mmh, ‘s okay Dai,” Bokuto hummed, already feeling bad. “Sorry for the outburst, but his relationship status also means nothing, Dai. I don’t need a relationship, so please let it go.”

Daichi shot him a strange look, but didn’t say anything. They finished the walk to their shared apartment in a comfortable silence. Once inside, Bokuto toed his shoes off and went straight to bed.

** Akaashi Keiji **

“So,” Sugawara said a few minutes after they’d parted ways with Bokuto and Sawamura. He sounded a bit- almost nervous, which was very uncommon. Keiji had the feeling something was bugging Suga. “What… What did you guys think of Daichi?”

 _Ah,_ Keiji thought, _that’s what was bugging him._ He didn’t have to think long for an answer.

“He seemed nice enough,” Keiji commented, “and honest. A bit dorky. He makes you happy, right?”

Suga blushed, which surprised Keiji. Suga _never_ blushed. Well, not on a daily basis. Just when you called him mom. But other than that, Keiji had never seen Suga blush like this. He was always the calm, refreshing type; he looked angelic and sweet but was a devil on the inside. Suga was always the one making people flustered, not getting flustered himself. Keiji smiled, knowing it was because of Daichi. He already knew what Suga’s answer was going to be.

“He- he does,” Suga said, smiling to the ground. “It’s been- We haven’t really known each other for that long yet but I just feel really nice around him.”

“Good,” Keiji simply responded, keeping his gaze forward. “I think you could be good for each other, please keep him.”

Suga’s smile was still intact as he turned his head to Keiji. “Thanks,” he said softly, “and yeah, I will. I was already planning to anyways.”

Keiji nodded in approval. There was a short silence between the men until Keiji suddenly heard Suga chuckle beside him. “I really enjoyed tonight, it was everything I hoped for, you know. You all getting along with Dai and his friend.. he was really nice. Don’t you agree?”

A small grin grew on Keiji’s face. “He was sure something.”

“Sure he was,” Suga laughed again, “but seriously, I really hadn’t expected for Daichi’s best friend to be so…

“Loud?” Keiji offered.

“Yeah,” Suga said. “So loud and enthusiastic. I mean, Daichi is pretty down-to-earth, I had first expected for him to be friends with someone a bit more similar to him.”

Keiji couldn’t hold a small chuckle of his own back. “Yeah, Bokuto-san and Sawamura-san are very different. Bokuto-san was very amusing.”

Upon hearing Keiji’s last words, a devilish grin appeared on Suga’s face. “Oh?”

Keiji involuntarily rolled his eyes and sighed softly. “Damn Suga-san. You really can’t control your inner mom, can you?”

“I have no such thing!” Suga squeaked. “No, but really. You thought _Bokuto_ was interesting _and_ amusing? You _never_ show interest in anyone whatsoever.”

Keiji sighed again. “That’s because no one has yet perked my interest like _that_ and no, Bokuto-san hasn’t either. Just stop the matchmaking already, I don’t need a partner. I have everything I need, Suga-san. Besides, what would Shouyou say?”

Suga’s shoulders went stiff. “Yeah, you always say that,” he said, “but I’m going to say this again, Keiji. You _can’t_ use Shouyou as an excuse. I know for a fact he wouldn’t care, as long as it makes his dad happy. And I’m not trying to match make. Well, not exactly. But you have to stop using Shou-chan as an excuse, Keiji. That doesn’t work on me. And that whole _I have everything I need_ crap doesn’t either. That’s not the reason, and you know I know that. I’ll stop bugging you for now, if you stop using fake excuses.”

Keiji sighed, feeling band about the way he reacted. “Fine.”

Suga stayed silent after that, which didn’t really help Keiji to feel better. He knew Suga didn’t push him to pester him, didn’t mean to push him into a relationship. He just wanted for Keiji to know the same happiness he’d found in Daichi and as Tooru and Haime so obviously shared.

He just didn’t fully understand Keiji already had that happiness; Shouyou. Shouyou meant _everything_ to Keiji and made him happier than anyone, even Suga, ever could.

Suga however was the reason Keiji had even been able to remember what happiness was in the first place. Without Suga’s intervention, Keiji would most likely be dead or bordering on insanity. That’s why Keiji hated seeing Suga down, especially when he was the reason Suga was overthinking. He did that _a lot_. Keiji always did anything he could to snap him out of it.

Keiji decided to ignore the was his mind protested against his words and chose to humor Suga. “But I do have to admit he’s really nice,” Keiji said.

It was the truth; he found Bokuto-san very friendly and amusing. Honestly, Keiji didn’t even have to think about lying and pretending to Suga. He saw through everything. Like, _literally everything_. It was like he could read minds, sometimes.

Suga chuckled at Keiji’s attempt to save the mood. It was like he knew it wasn’t the full truth. Keiji wasn’t ever going to admit to Suga he also found Bokuto fairly attractive. The man didn’t know of himself that he was good-looking, which actually made him look even better to Keiji.

To Keiji, Bokuto seemed friendly and honest, but a bit too enthusiastic and simpleminded. Keiji was sure he always had a lot of energy. There also wasn’t much doubt that he was fairly muscular. It had been clear to see with the tight shirt he’d worn.

Keiji really, honestly thought that, so why did his mind keep telling him that wasn’t true?

“Maybe your opinions will change later,” Suga said in a singsong tone that didn’t leave many questions about what he was implying.

“Yeah, maybe not,” Keiji chose to reply with a flat voice and a straight face. He still kept his gaze firmly trained on the street before him.

*******

When Keiji got home, he immediately grabbed his car keys and drove to Yaku’s place to pick Shouyou up. When he walked up to the apartment, the first thing he noticed was that Tooru’s car was still parked in front of the apartment block, meaning Hajime and Tooru were still there to pick Tobio up.they probably stayed for a chat, Keiji thought.

He rang the doorbell and immediately heard loud shrieks of laughter come from inside the apartment. Keiji smiled. He recognized Shouyou’s high giggles everywhere. Only seconds later, the door opened to reveal a short but well-built man. A little red-haired boy peeked at him from behind the man’s legs.

“Daddy, you’re here!” Shouyou exclaimed, running up to Keiji.

“Hey Shou, did you have a good time with Tobio and Yaku-ojisan?”

Shouyou nodded vigorously. “We ate pancakes and Tobio and I built a really tall tower with the block-things… the Lego! And then we were super cool dragons and attacked the castle. We won!”

Keiji smiled and ruffled his son’s unruly hair. “Sounds really fun, Shou. Are you going to say goodbye to Tobio?”

“Why don’t you come in for a bit,” Yaku interrupted. “Hajime and Tooru are also still here, I don’t mind.”

“Okay,” Keiji said and stepped inside the apartment.

“Ah!” he heard Tooru’s loud and cheery voice exclaim in the living room. “There’s our lover boy!

A gruff “Shut up, Shittykawa,” immediately followed. Keiji sighed to himself and walked into the living room, where he found Tooru and Hajime on the floor with Tobio.

Tooru was now clutching his head, softly whining to himself. “That hurt, Iwa-chan. You’re still so _mean_ to me.” His tone was complaining, but on his lips laid a relaxed smile.

Hajime snorted. “Cut it out, Tooru. You’re not 15 anymore.”

“What do you mean ‘ _lover boy’_?” Keiji said, interrupting their little fluffy moment.

A smirk immediately wiped away the earlier sweet smile off Tooru’s face as he slowly turned to Keiji. “Well, it looked like you and Owl-chan really hit it off, didn’t you?”

Keiji frowned. _Owl-chan_? “Oh, you mean Bokuto-san?”

The grin only got wider (and a lot more annoying and pretentious to Keiji).

“What, you too?” Keiji groaned softly, not fully allowing his irritation to slip through. That would only satisfy Tooru. “Come on, Hajime, please tell me you’re not in on this too? Suga also couldn’t shut up about Bokuto-san. What is wrong with you guys?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Tooru said, shaking his head innocently, “I just genuinely think the two of you hit it off pretty well. Don’t you think he was absolutely _dazzling_?”

At those last words, Tooru puckered his lips and fluttered with his stupid long eyelashes way too fast for Keiji to keep up, until he received another slap from Hajime.

“Keep it down, Iwa-chan,” he scolded with a whiny tone in his voice. “There are children in the room, you brute. You’re going to set a bad example for them.”

“Shut up, Tooru. Like you haven’t done that already. You look stupid.”

Before the two of them could start one of their childish arguments again, Keiji interrupted them again. “Well, Tooru-san, I appreciate the sentiment, really. But no. We didn’t hit it off and I haven’t looked at him like that. Aren’t you married?”

“Aren’t you single?” Yaku retorted sassily, a challenging tone in his voice as he now also mingled in the conversation.

Keiji held back a sigh. Honestly if Suga was their group’s mom, Yaku was close second. He wasn’t as close with them, but he was still a very good friend. Whenever he got the chance to team up with Suga they behaved like the most overprotective, bothersome mother figures ever.

“I mean,” Yaku continued, “if Tooru says he’s good looking…. You know how he always whines about other people. If he finds someone good looking, how come you didn’t even look at him? You didn’t secretly find yourself a boyfriend, did you?

Now Keiji did let the sigh go freely. “No, _mom_.”

Yaku rolled his eyes. Another annoying thing about Yaku; if you called Suga ‘mom’ he got all flustered and defensive and completely shut down. It was really fun and easy to tease him with it. Yaku wasn’t. Really, Yaku didn’t give two shits about whatever people called him, as long as you didn’t say anything about his height. That was a very touchy subject for the older man, who even after high school grew no taller than 166 centimeters...

You could say it was easy to tease Yaku about that, but it wasn’t very fun. More like _dangerous_. Very, _very_ dangerous.

“Besides,” Keiji then said, suddenly remembering something. “Speak for yourself, Yaku-san. You’re a year older than me and it’s not like you are in a relationship.” Then he added with a sly smile “Or did you secretly find yourself a boyfriend?”

“Sixteen months,” Yaku grumbled, not looking at Keiji. For Yaku’s sake, Keiji pretended not to notice how red Yaku’s cheeks had gotten. Tooru, however, wasn’t that friendly.

“Oh, Mori-chan, is that a blush I see? Did you actually get yourself a hot date?”

Keiji – again for Yaku’s sake – pretended he didn’t see the blush only grow darker by the second.

“I- I do actually,” Yaku then spoke up, looking at the floor. “Have a boyfriend, I mean. So you really can’t say anything, Akaashi.”

Keiji grinned, all friendliness thrown out the window. He didn’t really feel like being considerate of Yaku anymore and joined Tooru in the teasing fest. “Oh, who is it? A man or a woman? What’s their name?”

Yaku shot him a betrayed look, but Keiji wasn’t fazed by it. Yaku seemed to already have forgotten how he’d aimed to tease Keiji about Bokuto only minutes ago.

“He- his name is Haiba Lev. But really, that’s all you’re getting. Tooru, don’t stalk him. I know you would, but don’t. Now leave my house, I’ve got work to do.”

Keiji grinned. “Tooru-san, would you look at that. Mom is finally settling down,” he said, faking tears and wiping an imaginary tear away. Then he took Shouyou’s hand, who’d plopped down next to Tobio on the floor. They’d been having a conversation on their own, seemingly in a completely different universe. When Keiji took Shouyou’s hand, the boy looked up with a questioning look.

“Come on little man, we’re going home.”

Shouyou nodded excitedly and jumped up, wildly waving goodbye to Tobio and Yaku. Then he followed Keiji to the door. When he stepped out of the living room, he subconsciously let out a small sigh. At least he’d-

“Don’t think you can get out of this so easily, _Ke-chan_ ,” Tooru’s voice carried through the apartment, the tone in his voice making the smirk known. “We’ll talk more tomorrow!” his words were followed by the voices of the other two men, laughing loudly. Keiji smiled and shook his head, exiting the apartment. So much for getting the topic off himself.

Tomorrow was going to be a long, long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! i'm extremely sorry i took so long to finish it, but i've been going through a kinda rough patch (mentally) these days and i couldn't really bring myself to continue. i wanted to update before the end of the year though, so i kinda forced myself to finish editing it and here it is. its probably not that good, but chapter 5 will be up soon and i like that chapter a lot better.. So, everyone, have a good day and happy new year! i hope everyone can accomplish their goals in 2017 and have a good year, since 2016 sucked pretty bad ヘ(￣ω￣ヘ)  
> if you liked it, feel free to leave kudos or comment (¬‿¬ )


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which they kind of talk and bokuto meets yaku and shouyou

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kay so hey everyone im back i guess. sorry yall it took so long, but i was (i repeat) not feeling too well and way too busy with school to function as a normal human being. now im all dandy though and most schoolwork is out the way, so i decided to rise from the dead and post this.

His friends indeed didn’t let him off the hook that easily, Keiji realized the following morning at the daycare.

First, Tooru and Hajime came in with Tobio a lot earlier than usual, which wasn’t suspicious at all. It left them with lots of free time until the two ad to go to work, which _of course_ wasn’t planned. Second; it was a Tuesday, meaning Yaku also had to work. Third; Suga, god knows why, had asked Daichi to send him pictures of Bokuto. Which of course also wasn’t weird _at all._

At the moment, Suga held his phone with a recent photo of Bokuto on the screen ridiculously close to Keiji’s face, while Yaku held his arms behind his back and Tooru was cackling evilly in the background. Hajime momentarily looked after Tobio and Shouyou, since no other kids had come in yet. Even _he_ was involved in this plot.

“So, Ke-chan” Tooru began after he’d finally finished his ridiculous little show. “Yesterday, you said you didn’t check Owl-chan, not even a little bit. We all know that’s complete bullshit, but since we’re _so_ loving and kind-hearted we’ll give you another chance. So feel free to give Mr. Charming a few very good looks, maybe a lot, and then you can think again about how good-looking he is and how badly you secretly want his babies.”

Keiji tried to keep a neutral face with all his might, and just managed to pull off a bored expression. With an eye roll, he shrugged Yaku off and grabbed Suga’s phone. “I don’t really have a say in this, do i?”

Suga and Yaku shook their heads and Tooru chuckled. “Nope! Just give up and do it already.”

Yaku grinned and started to make his way to Hajime, to play with the kids and Keiji sighed. “You guys are all batshit crazy. I don’t know how Hajime, Sawamura and Yaku’s datemate keep up with you.”

At that, Suga’s eyes grew wide as he turned around to Yaku. “Yaku Morisuke!” he angrily called after the shorter man, who visibly flinched. “Who is this datemate I hear about? Did you maybe forget to tell me something?”

While yelling those words, Keiji and Tooru chuckled as Suga stormed after Yaku. “He’s such a mom,” Keiji muttered.

“He is,” Tooru agreed. Then he blinked slowly. 

“Crap, Ke-chan, I forgot how clever you are. but I’m not letting you go like that again!”

Keiji smiled (a little bit evilly) at Tooru. “Too bad, I was so close. Next time, I’ll win.”

Tooru narrowed his eyes and quickly urged at him to look through the pictures.

On the first, Bokuto and Sawamura were playing volleyball together, which kind of surprised Keiji. What positions did they play? Sawamura carried the number 1, meaning he was most probably the captain, Bokuto had number 4 on his back.

Keiji assumed the picture was taken while the two men were in high school, since Sawamura looked considerably younger and Bokuto’s hair was spiked up even crazier than it was now.

Sawamura was nowhere to be seen in the next picture, only Bokuto and a dark haired man who Keiji assumed was the setter. Bokuto was jumping up to spike the ball, with a focused expression.

Keiji couldn’t not notice the small peek of his thighs between his (ridiculously high) kneepads and shorts, as well as the way his shirt had ridden up a little, showing a toned stomach.

The third picture held Bokuto and Sawamura, looking very proud and happy, posing in their assumably new cop uniforms. Keiji remembered Sawamura mentioning something about them working in the same department.

Keiji went on to the fourth and last picture. It was a simple picture with just Bokuto, looking very content and happy with an enormous owl perched on his right hand. The sunlight hit his face in a way that made him look like an (very muscular and intimidating) angel.

Keiji tore his eyes away from the phone and chucked it back to Tooru, who quickly scrambled to catch it, but quickly recovered. “I told you so,” he said smirking.

“Shut up, it’s nothing,” Keiji said dismissively and waked towards the kids and a fussing Suga.

“Suga, stop it, whatever you’re mom-ing about,” Keiji said, using the strict voice he sometimes used on the kids. “We’ll go out to eat together this afternoon and we can all catch up, okay? Now it’s time to get to work.”

“Fine,” Suga muttered and clicked his tongue disapprovingly at Yaku before finally letting him go.

 “Hajime, show’s over. Sorry, I’m afraid I’m the cause of all this. You can go now, sorry for getting you involved,” Keiji continued, turning to Hajime who was playing a bit more with Tobio and Shouyou.

“No, ‘s fine,” Hajime said, shaking his head. “’s Pretty amusing to watch them harass you, no offense.”

Keiji huffed. “So much for you being the sane one.”

Hajime shrugged. “Well, I agree with them for once, you know. I think it’d be good for you to find someone, and everyone could see you and Bokuto had some sort of click. Or connection, whatever. But it’s your life.”

Keiji rolled his eyes. “Thanks, I guess.”

Hajime smiled. “Well, I gotta take the idiot to work. See you guys this evening. Bye Tobio, see you later!”

“Bye dad!” Tobio said, excitedly waving his dad goodbye.

“Bye Tobio-chan!” Tooru also said, to which Tobio just kept waving and said “Bye daddy!”

Then the two were off. When the door finally closed behind them, Keiji let himself fall back in a chair. “Phew,” he breathed out. “They’re finally gone. I’m assuming Tooru planned all of this?”

“He did,” Yaku said shrugging. “But we’ll get to that later. It’s pretty busy today, so I think it’s best if we play a few games rather than just letting them all do whatever.”

Keiji nodded. “We’ll let them play until snack time. the weather is nice, so we can go outside after that for a few games, and after that we’ll just see if its lunch or nap time already.”

“Daddy” a small voice suddenly spoke up, Shouyou’s small hand tugging at the hem of his sweater.

“What’s up, Shou?”

“I- I think Tobio is sad or mad at me, daddy. He said he wants to play with someone else today, but we always play together!”

Keiji looked up, eyes searching for the black-haired boy. He quickly found him drawing with Suga and little Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi’s friend Tsukishima stood awkwardly to the side, watching them interact, obviously not used to Yamaguchi talking to anyone else than him.

“You can play with more than one person at the same time, Shouyou,” Keiji said smiling. “Tobio probably just wanted to draw with Yamaguchi today, but you can draw too, or pay along with Nishinoya and Tanaka… And since Kozume called in sick today, I think Kuroo is alone too. See? Plenty of other kids to play with.”

Shouyou shot Keiji a look with those big, brown eyes of his. For a second, Keiji was afraid he wouldn’t want to play with the other kids or was too shy to, but a big smile spread over Shouyou’s face.

“Okay!” he exclaimed and ran off towards Nishinoya and Tanaka. A few seconds later, he heard Tanaka laugh loudly and yell “Akaashi, wanna join?” to which Shouyou nodded eagerly.

“Okay! Yuu wanted to be the prince and I want to be the dragon, so you can be the princess!”

Keiji was again worried Shouyou wouldn’t want to, but smiled when Shouyou began to nod enthusiastically and put on a tiara.

-

That afternoon, at four P.M. most parents arrived to take their kids back home. When all his friends were gone and only Tobio and Shouyou were left, Shouyou happily skipped towards Keiji.

“Daddy!” he exclaimed excitedly. “Today was really fun, I played the princess with Ryuu and Noya! Can I wear a dress to work one day?”

Keiji felt his heart swell with fondness for the little boy and the way he always called going to the daycare his ‘work’. Like it was his job.

“I don’t think we have any dresses or skirts at home, Shou, so we won’t be able to do that tomorrow. But we can maybe go to the store tomorrow after work to buy one, okay?”

“Okay!” Shouyou exclaimed, more than satisfied with the promise.

 

“So he’s into girls’ clothing, huh?” Suga said, walking up to Keiji. “You don’t mind that, do you?”

Keiji almost snorted, but frowned teasingly instead. “Geez Suga, since when do you think so lowly of me? Really, why would I mind? I think it’s cute.”

Suga smiled and shrugged. “I know, I didn’t think you’d mind but, you know, just making sure. I know for a fact my parents didn’t mind me being gay, but when I told them I liked wearing skirts they thought I was taking it too far.”

“You already told me more than once, Suga-san, and you know very well none of us mind.”

“I haven’t told Daichi yet, Suga said softly.

Keiji shot Suga a look from out of the corners of his eyes. “That’s not bad, is it? I mean, you haven’t been together for that long, have you?”

“A little more than a week, but it feels like years.”

“See, you still have enough time to tell him. don’t wait too long though, it’ll only make you more nervous and I’m positive he wouldn’t mind either.”

Suga smiled. “Thanks, Keiji. Really. You’re like a de-stress machine.”

Keiji scoffed lightly. “I believe I already told you a thousand times that whatever happened, you don’t need to thank me. If anything, I should still be thanking you every day for every single thing in my life.”

At those last words, Suga’s head snapped to the side to send Keiji a fiery look. “You and I both know that’s not true, Keiji,” he scolded. “Maybe I got the ball rolling, but you already thanked us plenty for that. you’re strong, Keiji. You’re the one that kept going, and that’s none of my doing.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Keiji said soothingly. “Look, the lovebirds finally arrived.”

Suga heard Tooru earlier than he saw him. 

“Ke-chan, Suga-chan, Mori-chan, did you miss us?”

Yaku immediately rolled his eyes and went back to cleaning the sink.

“Rude,” Tooru huffed quietly.

“Hi guys,” Hajime simply said. Keiji waved shortly and went to grab both Tobio’s and Shouyou’s coats and bags.

“Hey, Keiji,” Suga said when he got back. “Didn’t you say we’d go out for a bite work, all of us?”

Keiji narrowed his eyes slightly at the sultry tone of Suga’s voice, but nodded.

“Great! Tobio, do you have everything?”

The little boy nodded as he stuffed his drawing in his small backpack and grabbed Tooru’s outstretched hand. Keiji took Shouyou’s backpack in one hand and Shouyou’s hand in the other, and after Suga had checked everything and locked the place up, they left in the direction of their favorite restaurant.

It had everything; traditional and typical Japanese food, but also Western food like fries, hamburgers and pancakes. The restaurant had a kids’ zone where Tobio and Shouyou could play with Lego or draw.

After they’d all settled down in a big booth, Tooru immediately swung back to that mornings topic.

“So,” he began with a sickeningly sweet and totally suspicious smile on his face. “You looked at the pictures this morning. What did you think? Did you look closely enough this time?”

He asked the questions with a tone like he was implying he already knew the answers.

Keiji’s mind involuntarily drifted back to the pictures. Anyone would say that Bokuto was actually pretty good-looking, with a big smile, beautiful golden eyes and a _very_ toned body.

Keiji caught himself growing a light blush and quickly forced it back, stuttering out a very eloquent “Oh… uh- yeah, I guess.”

At that, Yaku, who sat next to him, violently burst out laughing.

“You guess? Tooru said smugly.

“He-He’s pretty good-looking, I guess.” Keiji murmured.

Yaku’s laughter only got worse.

“Yaku, stop laughing for fuck’s sake,” Keiji hissed, feeling the blush coming back. “It’s not my fault he’s so muscular!”

At this point, Yaku was _wheezing_ , heavily leaning on Keiji. “You-You should’ve – seen your face!” he managed to squeak out.

Keiji angrily shoved Yaku’s shoulder. “You _jerk,_ ” He hissed again. “I-”

He was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Hey hey hey, you guys here too?”

Akaashi’s eyes widened. A lot. Which kind of was another reason for Yaku to not stop _fucking laughing_ -

“Hey, Bokuto!” Hajime said with a friendly smile. “Join us! There’s a free sport next to Akaashi- if you aren’t here with Sawamura?”

“No, no,” Bokuto responded laughing. “Daichi had to stay a little longer and I was hungry, so I thought I’d just go without him. He said he didn’t mind.” Then he let himself fall in the seat next to Keiji with little grace.

The latter shot Hajime a quick glare, mouthing ‘traitor’ to him. Hajime just smiled wider and shrugged innocently.

It was as if Bokuto only then noticed Yaku, including the way he was still leaning heavily on Keiji, trying to calm his breathing again. His eyes widened visibly and his mouth fell open a bit. “Oh, hi!” he then said, fixing himself with a grin. “Didn’t see you there!”

Keiji felt Yaku stiffen up next to him, and he flinched a bit. _Please don’t make any height jokes,_ he silently prayed. _Say anything, but don’t make any jokes about his height._

Luckily, Bokuto didn’t. He quickly continued talking and didn’t say anything about Yaku’s centimeters- or lack thereof.

“I’m Bokuto Koutarou,” he said instead. “Who are you?”

Then Yaku got a good look at Bokuto, and slowly a smirk spread on his face. Keiji almost groaned out loud, but managed to keep it in. “Ah, so you’re the infamous Bokuto? I’m Yaku Morisuke, another one of their friends, god knows why.”

“Are you Akaashi’s boyfriend?” Bokuto then blurted out, and now Keiji was the one who tensed up. Why did he ask that? Did they maybe seem like that? How was Yaku going to react?

The answer to that, he got very quickly. After a few seconds of Yaku blinking at Bokuto with big eyes, he just burst out laughing again.

“God, no!” he wheezed out. “I like my own boyfriend very much, thank you. Besides, Keiji is pretty much married to his job and Shouyou.”

Keiji smiled at that. that’s right. Shou and the daycare were the two most important things in his life.

Bokuto frowned. “Who’s Shouyou? Another friend? Akaashi’s actual boyfriend?

“No,’ Keiji answered quickly, before anyone else could reply for him instead. “I’m very much single and our group is just the five of us. Shouyou’s my son.”

And, bless his timing, at that exact moment, a small voice spoke up close to Keiji, sounding confused and slightly angry. “Daddy, who is this and why is he in my seat?”

Keiji laughed. “Bokuto, that’s Shouyou.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gah, im sorry for the awful ending but im bad at writing too long chapters and i was almost at 2600 so i wanted to wrap it and i failed badly at that. my apologies. ill try to have 6 up before the end of next week, im kinda planning to update wednesday or thursday.  
>  until then, please leave a comment or kudos if you liked it for some reason~~


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which bokuto has a chat with shouyou, tooru regrets his life decisions and bokuto realizes how gay he is for akaashi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heRE IS A BOKUTO POV FOR YOU cause i felt like it and i finally have some free time to type a lot of shit

** Bokuto Koutarou **

When Daichi told him Suga had invited them to join him and his friends for dinner, Bokuto was immediately excited. All day he’d been fidgety, hating that he’d have to wait until that evening.

It’d been a huge bummer when Daichi suddenly told him he had to stay a little longer; the chief wanted to talk with Daichi about a few strange accidents that could have something to do with each other

Bokuto’s mood was lifted when Daichi said he could go ahead without him, so there he was, walking into the restaurant perfectly on time. Without Daichi. He hoped Suga wouldn’t mind.

When he walked inside, he immediately saw them; Sugawara Koushi with his sweet smile and silver hair, the pretty face of Iwaizumi Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime who looked very angry but wasn’t and the honestly breathtaking Akaashi Keiji. And someone else. Someone Bokuto didn’t know.

Bokuto felt himself frown at the way the man leaned on Akaashi. They seemed… close.

Bokuto wondered why it suddenly felt like he had a log stuck in his stomach, but decided to ignore the feeling. He couldn’t completely shake it off, though.

“Hey hey hey!” he said as a greeting. “You guys here too?” he added in a joking manner.

The smallest man was laughing loudly, still leaning heavily on Akaashi. Bokuto quickly swallowed a (probably rude) comment and mentally slapped himself for his weird thoughts.

“Hey Bokuto,” the shorter Iwaizumi said with a smile that seemed friendly enough to Bokuto. “Join us! There’s a free spot next to Akaashi- if you’re not here with Sawamura?”

The way he said the last words made Bokuto frown. It didn’t really sound like a question, did they already know Daichi was coming a little later?

“No, no,” he said, deciding not to comment on it. “Daichi had to stay a little longer and I was hungry so I just thought I’d just go without him. He didn’t mind.”

He took the seat next to Akaashi and pretended not to look too surprised at how Akaashi didn’t seem to mind the way the other man was leaning on him.

He’d stopped laughing now, but didn’t look like he was planning to get off Akaashi anytime soon. It made Bokuto very, very curious and just a tiny bit sad.

“Oh, hi!” he said, acting like he only just saw the man. “Didn’t see you there!”

Bokuto then realized that maybe wasn’t the smartest thing to do, since the man looked to be pretty short and Bokuto knew from experience how mad short people got when you mentioned their heights. Like, all of them. No exceptions.

“I’m Bokuto Koutarou,” he quickly continued, “who are you?”

“Ah, so you’re the infamous Bokuto? I’m Yaku Morisuke, another one of their friends, god knows why,” the man responded with a slightly suspicious grin.

 _Friend, huh?_ Bokuto caught himself thinking, and before he could stop himself the question that was running through his mind was already out there.

“Are you Akaashi’s boyfriend?”

Bokuto didn’t notice the way Akaashi suddenly stilled next to him. All his attention was on Yaku, anticipating his reply. He wasn’t sure if it was a good or a bad thing that he could sometimes see when someone was lying.

What if he said yes? Bokuto wasn’t sure what he’d do then. He wasn’t sure what the hell he was even thinking when he asked. Was Akaashi even gay, or anything non-straight?

What he wasn’t expecting was for Yaku to start laughing again. “Gosh, no!” he wheezed. “I like my own boyfriend very much, thank you. Besides, Keiji is pretty much married to his job and Shouyou.”

This time Bokuto did notice the change in Akaashi’s expression. He had a sweet (and super pretty) smile on his face at the mention of Shouyou and his job, whatever those two were.

 _Wait_ , Bokuto then thought, _Shouyou is a boy’s name_. Immediately, doubt hit him again.

“Who’s Shouyou?” he asked. “Another friend? Akaashi’s actual boyfriend?”

This time it was Akaashi who replied. “No,” he said, and Bokuto suddenly felt a lot lighter. Shaking the ridiculous thoughts off, he focused on Akaashi again, not wanting to miss anything he said.

It was hard to do so though, because Akaashi had thin but full and pink lips that Bokuto found very hard to take his eyes off.

“-very much single,” he heard Akaashi say through a daze. _Single?_ He thought. _How on earth was it possible for such a beautiful human being to be single?_

Bokuto caught something about the group, but he wasn’t quite sure what Akaashi’d actually said. On the contrary, his next words were clear as ice.

“Shouyou’s my son.”

What? _Did-_

Akaashi had a son?

Did that mean Bokuto now had confirmation Akaashi wasn’t gay? Who was Shouyou’s mother? How old was he? Maybe he was adopted? Akaashi looked pretty young to Bokuto. Not that Bokuto himself was very old, but Akaashi looked too young to be a father yet.

Bokuto felt like his head was about to burst from all the questions and his growing confusion.

He was shook out of his spiral of thoughts by the small, high-pitched voice of a child.

“Daddy, who is this and why is he in my seat?”

Bokuto felt blessed by the small smile that had made its way onto Akaashi’s seemingly permanent neutral expression. “Bokuto,” he said, ”that’s Shouyou.”

Bokuto’s eyes grew in size considerably in size at the realization as he quicly looked to the side. He couldn’t keep the loud squeal that escaped his mouth back.

Next to the booth stood a small boy, about three or four years old. Bokuto wasn’t sure. The boy was really small, but didn’t look young enough to be two or three. Not that Bokuto was a very good judge of age.

He had messy, orange hair, a freckled button nose and enormous brown eyes. He currently had a big frown on his face, accompanied by a pout. He looked very confused, very offended and very, very, _very_ cute.

Really, the boy was _freaking adorable_ and- wait.

This was _Shouyou_. Akaashi’s _son_. The son of the man he was lowkey crushing on.

Horror dawned on his face. Even if Akaashi turned out to be gay or bi or whatever, if this boy didn’t like him he had literally _no_ chances. None.

Then Bokuto realized something off; the boy didn’t look like Akaashi at all. As in, they literally had nothing in common appearance-wise.

He turned to Akaashi, slightly hesitant to ask the question that was now plaguing his mind.

“Akaashi, does he look more like his mother?” he asked softly. Akaashi shrugged while not taking his eyes off Shouyou. Bokuto thought he looked breathtaking in the bad lighting of the restaurant, a loving gleam in his eyes.

“I wouldn’t know,” he then whispered, making sure Shouyou wouldn’t hear his answer. “I adopted him three years ago.”

“Oh,” Bokuto breathed out, for some reason feeling a wave of relief washing over him. So Shouyou wasn’t Akaashi’s biological son. That meant there wasn’t a biological mother tied to Shouyou and Akaashi either.

“Daddy,” Shouyou said again, now sounding a bit closer to whining. When Bokuto looked at him, he saw the boy’s pout had only grown and this time he just barely managed to hold another squeal back.

Akaashi mentioned for Shouyou to come closer, and Bokuto turned his legs so Shouyou could go past him in the booth. Akaashi lifted the boy on his lap and turned back to Bokuto.

“Shou, that’s Bokuto-san. He’s a new friend of mine, so play nice okay? You can sit with me tonight.”

Shouyou’s eyes widened a bit and he now fully turned his body to Bokuto. “What’s your name?” he asked, now with a big grin on his face. Akaashi gently poked the boy’s sides which made him quickly realize something and quickly added some polite words to it.

Bokuto laughed at that. “I’m Bokuto Koutarou, and you’re Akaashi Shouyou. Right?”

Shouyou nodded excitedly. “Yeah, because my daddy’s name is Akaashi too! I’m four, and you?”

Bokuto laughed again at the boy’s innocent lack of politeness and pointed to himself. “I’m 25!”

Shouyou’s mouth fell open as he let out a soft “woah”. “That means you’re older than daddy!” he then exclaimed. “Can I touch your hair?”

Bokuto wasn’t fazed one bit by the sudden, random question and nodded with a grin. “Of course, buddy! Do you like it?”

“Ooh-” Shouyou gasped, his big eyes sparkling from excitement. “It’s so soft, Mr. Bokuto! And it’s two colours! And the back is really short! Can you make my hair like that too?”

Bokuto shook his head, grin still on his face. “I can maybe style it one day, but I don’t think your dad would like it if I dyed it.”

“Oh,” Shouyou said simply. “Okay!”

Then he hopped off Akaashi’s lap again, climbed over Bokuto’s and ran back to the black-haired boy in the kids’ corner.

When he was out of earshot, Bokuto let his head fall face first on the table, careful to not drop his face in his food.

“God, Akaashi,” he whined, “how do you survive? He’s _so_ adorable!”

Akaashi chuckled softly next to him. the mere sound of it made Bokuto even more fired up. It must be absolute _heaven_ at their place, Bokuto thought to himself. A freaking adorable and pretty boy with an even prettier father. Damn, the little family was so good-looking it was unfair!

“He’s a real charmer indeed,” the pretty Iwaizumi -Tooru was his name- commented from the other side on the table. He was grinning at his food, having watched the interaction in an amused manner.

Bokuto wasn’t sure what to think of Iwaizumi Tooru. He seemed nice, but devilish at the same time. To Bokuto, he was a bit scary. He (and let’s absolutely _not_ forget Suga in this) gave off the vibe that he knew and saw _everything_ , the way they were both grinning at him. He wouldn’t be surprised if they already knew how much he’d grown to admire Akaashi in such a short amount of time.

Bokuto suddenly felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and stiffened momentarily. When he turned around and saw it was just Daichi, he immediately relaxed again.

“Did you survive?” Bokuto asked with a wide grin.

“Just barely,” Daichi joked while walking around the booth to kiss Suga on the cheek. “Hi,” Bokuto heard him say softly, and a disgustingly sweet smile grew on Suga’s face. Then Daichi quickly scooted in the booth next to Suga.

“They’re so cute, I think I’m going to throw up,” Bokuto softly said to Akaashi.

The latter nodded silently. “I think they’re good for each other,” he then whispered back, lightly leaning towards Bokuto.

The action was so simple, but almost made Bokuto glow. He wasn’t sure why he felt so much at that, but made him happy nonetheless.

“Man, really?” he suddenly heard Yaku what-was-his-name-again exclaim on the other side of Akaashi. “If I knew I’d be seventh-wheeling I would’ve invited the idiot along!”

It fell silent.

“The idiot? Who’s that?”

Hajime laughed softly. “Huh, I forgot. It’s Yaku’s boyfriend.”

“You forgot I’m dating someone?” Yaku asked. “Such good friends you are,” he said and turned to Bokuto, rolling his eyes.

Bokuto chuckled. “One question though, why do you call your boyfriend an idiot?”

“Mori-chan likes to play hard to get,” Tooru joked, and Yaku sent him a quick glare.

“Well, you can let Tooru think and say whatever, but I call him an idiot because that’s the only word I can think of to describe him with.”

“Oh, I like idiots,” Bokuto dumbly said, winking at Daichi who just rolled his eyes. “Just watch it Suga, this guy may seem really cool and collected, but don’t be fooled. He’s the biggest dork I’ve ever met, even though he doesn’t really look like one.”

Suga smirked. “Thanks for the concern, Bokuto-kun. I’ll keep that in mind, though I think I’ve seen my fair share of it already.”

“Okay, but seriously,” Bokuto then said, turning back to Yaku. “I like it when people are a bit... different. Tell me more.”

Really, all Bokuto wanted was something to fluster Yaku with, as a childish payback for making him think he and Akaashi were together. To say it simply; Yaku did actually flush a bit. His cheeks grew the slightest bit red, barely noticeable and a sweet smile made its way onto his face.

“Well,” he started, voice sweeter than he’d obviously intended.

 _He’s whipped_ , Bokuto thought. _Completely hooked._

He scraped his throat, and his voice sounded a bit more like before when he started off again. “Well, he’s really tall, I guess. Way too tall actually, almost two meters.” He frowned a little at that, obviously bitter about the fact that his boyfriend was so much taller than himself.

“He is!” Tooru laughed. “Really, it’s hilarious to see them together. Their immense height difference makes our Mori-chan look even tinier.”

One thing Bokuto did figure out about Tooru that night was that he had a death wish or no sense of danger whatsoever.

“What?” Suga asked confusedly. “When did you meet him, and why didn’t we?”

Tooru grimaced at that. “Well, I didn’t actually meet him, I-”

“Okay, stop!” Yaku exclaimed, hiding his flaming red face in his hands. “That’s enough, Tooru, no further details needed.” But it was too late.

Suga was already snorting behind his hands, having understood the underlying message. Akaashi’s eyebrows were scrunched together, giving him a disgusted expression. Hajime didn’t look fazed, so he’d probably already heard the story. Bokuto decided to just pretend he understood too.

“…You walked in on them, didn’t you,” Akaashi mumbled, sounding shook. Tooru nodded gravely.

Suga cackled evilly. “Please tell me, Tooru, does our precious ‘Mori-chan’ top or bottom?”

Daichi choked out a laugh, and when he saw the state Yaku was in he also burst out laughing.

When Tooru said “He tops,” in the most pained voice possible, everyone lost it. Or more like, everyone burst out laughing in various degrees of loudness and Bokuto got lost in the sound of Akaashi’s laugh.

It was a melodious laugh, calm and quiet. It was like screaming to Bokuto, like he couldn’t hear anything else.

When Akaashi cutely hid his face behind his hands, Bokuto’s hands itched to take them away so he could look at Akaashi’s face. He didn’t.

Gosh, he thought, how can a grown man be that damn cute? This was possibly going way, way too fast, but Bokuto felt himself not caring at all. He was so, so gay for Akaashi, but that wasn’t a big deal. Honestly, who wouldn’t be? Really, would there be anyone who didn’t like him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so hi im back pretty early i guess ^^  
> its kinda an apology for having yall wait like a month beforr chapter 5, also im down with a flu so i had some free time on my hands (finally). i actually quite like this chapter, so i hope yall like it too.  
> aLSO
> 
> I ONLY JUST NOW NOTICED IT BUT WE'RE ALMOST AT 1K HITS AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO SAY???!!?!?!!!  
> THANKS
> 
> feel free to leave kudos or a comment if you liked it~


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which akaashi does only like bokuto as A Friend and gets sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah i had this sitting in a word document and i couldnt resist so here i am with three updates in a week ~  
> this ones really short so ye  
> (also the 8th chapter will probably take a while since im working on planning all further chapters until the end so yeah)  
> enjoy

** Akaashi Keiji **

Suga and Keiji lived pretty close to each other, so they walked home together like they always did after they’d been to the restaurant together. What wasn’t the same as usual was that their other friends tagged along too, save for Bokuto and Sawamura.

Shouyou was sound asleep on Keiji’s shoulders. He’d had a long day with lots of playing, so Keiji wasn’t surprised he was so tired.

Tobio was stubborn as usual, refusing to be carried because he was a ‘big boy’ and he ‘could walk by himself, unlike that dumbass’.

Tooru gasped. “Tobio, where did you learn that word? It’s not a nice thing to say!”

“What, dumbass?” Tobio asked, shrugging innocently. “I don’t know, but dad says is to you all the time and you like each other so I didn’t think it was a bad word.”

Tooru glared pointedly at Hajime, who just grinned back. “At least he wasn’t being mean on purpose,” the latter mumbled.

Tooru sighed exasperatedly and grabbed Tobio’s hand. “Fine, just don’t say it again, okay?” Tobio frowned lightly at that and mumbled out an ‘okay’.

They continued to walk, from then on a comfortable silence between the friends. When they were just minutes away from Keiji’s apartment, Suga broke the silence. “Hey Yaku, do you remember what Bokuto said tonight?”

At first, Yaku didn’t get the hint and scrunched his eyebrows. “What do you mean, Bokuto said so many things to-” he suddenly stopped short when he saw Suga’s mischievous smile and immediately, a similar grin appeared on his face as well. “Ooh, _that_ thing. If I remember correctly he said something along the lines of ‘I like different people’.”

Keiji already sensed where this was going and rolled his eyes.

“He’s not here, Ke-chan,” Tooru said, “and there’s no one but us here either, so you can tell us freely. What do you _really_ think about Owl-chan?”

This took Keiji off-guard. He was expecting a lot more teasing and provoking, but he hadn’t seen the genuine question coming. They all looked and sounded like there was no room for teasing now- only genuine curiosity and concern.

“I- uh-” he stuttered out not so eloquently, still feeling a bit uneasy with being the center of attention. Suga prodded him with a look, to which Keiji sighed and gave in. Maybe if he just talked to them about this – whatever this was – they’d finally get off his back about Bokuto.

“I’m not sure,” he said, not really feeling like looking any of his friends in the eye. “I mean sure, he’s nice enough, no one can deny that he’s good-looking and his enthusiasm is almost cute, but it’s nothing other than that.”

It was only a small lie, but Keiji prayed to whatever god was up there no one noticed it. He knew all of them were scarily observant in their own ways, but Keiji was too and he was good at maintaining a poker face.

At first, no one noticed. Hajime nodded. “He is indeed very nice, I guess.”

“And good-looking too,” Suga added.

“Don’t you have a boyfriend?” Keiji asked jokingly.

“I do,” Suga shrugged, a light blush tinting his cheeks. “I didn’t say he was better looking than Daichi, did I?”

Keiji shook his head, smiling. The weight that rested on his head reminded him of the sleeping boy that was still on his neck. “You’re impossible,” he said to Suga, who just shrugged again and winked.

Not too long after, they reached Keiji’s apartment. Just before the door could fully close behind him, he heard Hajime’s snort and Yaku’s muffled laughter, while Tooru’s voice said “he _so_ does like Owl-chan” to them.

Keiji pushed the door shut and noticed that he was frowning. Did he like Bokuto? Sure, as a friend. He was nice enough. Nothing more than that. He couldn’t, and didn’t even want to.

He forced himself to not dwell on the thought and went to change Shouyou into his pajamas before he laid him down in his bed. Keiji kneeled next to him and softly pressed a kiss to his son’s forehead.

“Night, Shou,” he whispered and smiled when the only answer he got was Shouyou’s soft snoring.

***

The next morning, Keiji woke up feeling like death. He was immensely warm, his nose was runny and he felt like he could throw up at any second. He laid his hand on his forehead and felt it was burning up. He then tried to get out of bed, but his legs felt like lead. He could barely move his body at all.

He managed to grab his phone from his nightstand and called Suga. After a few rings, he picked up.

“Hi,” Keiji said, only to find that his voice sounded even worse than he felt.

“You don’t sound well,” Suga immediately said, “are you sick?”

“Yeah,” Keiji croaked out. “I can barely stand up, I really can’t come to the daycare. Could you maybe pick Shou up and take him with you? I don’t want to keep him home when I’m like this.”

“Oh,” Suga said. “I- I’m not going the usual route though, and I’m going in early, so- no, I’ll pick him up. Okay. I can’t take him with me after work though, I- I kind of have a date with Daichi, and if I remember right Tooru and Hajime were going on a trip to Tooru’s parents this weekend. I- maybe I could ask Bokuto?”

“No, no,” Keiji scrambled to say, “That’s too much of a burden, really. I can’t just ask that from him.”

“That’s why I’m going to do it,” Suga retorted drily. “I- I’ll make sure Shouyou’s picked up and all in twenty minutes, okay? Don’t worry about anything.”

Before Keiji could say anything else, Suga had already hung up. Keiji sighed to himself and tried once more to get out of bed. This time, he had more success. He stumbled to Shouyou’s room in just his sweatpants, where he found Shouyou already sitting in front of his closet, holding up a shirt.

“Hey Shou, up already?” he managed to say without croaking too much.

“Yeah, I was awake _reaaally_ early and then I went to your room daddy, but you were asleep and you said you didn’t want to get out yet so I thought I’d try to get ready for work already.”

Keiji smiled and ruffled Shouyou’s unruly mop of red hair. “You’re such a big boy already,” he said. Shouyou turned around and proudly beamed up at his father. The smile didn’t last very long, though.

“What’s wrong, daddy?” Shouyou asked worriedly.

“Nothing’s wrong, Shou. I just fell sick this morning. Uncle Suga is going to take you to work today, okay?”

Shouyou’s frown disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. “Oh, okay!”

Keiji grabbed a clean set of clothes for Shouyou and laid them out on his bed. The boy had a new thing he was very stubborn about; getting dressed by himself in the morning. Keiji just picked his clothes and let him and fixed his clothes if nessecary before they left.

Keiji dragged himself to the kitchen to prepare a sandwich for Shouyou. He didn’t feel like eating anything himself, but made some tea anyway. Ten minutes later, Shouyou happily skipped into the kitchen, hopping on a kitchen stool.

“Did you sleep well, Shou?” Keiji asked.

Shouyou nodded wildly, bouncing on the stool. “I can’t remember what I dreamed about,” he said with his mouth full.

“Chew and swallow before you talk, Shou,” Keiji said to remind him. The boy quickly nodded and worked his jaw to swallow his bite. “Good job,” Keiji said. “Now, what did you say?”

“I don’t remember what my dream was about!” Shouyou repeated, possibly bouncing even more than before.

“What are you so excited for?” Keiji teased with a tired smile and poked Shouyou’s stomach. The little boy squirmed out of his reach, giggling loudly. Then he seemed to remember his father had asked him a question and sat back on the stool, a big grin on his face.

“I don’t know,” he exclaimed, waving around with his arms. “I just am, I think! Going to school with Uncle Suga is really cool, because he always buys grown-up drinks and he always lets me taste.”

Keiji chuckled. “You mean coffee? Yeah, Uncle Suga likes that _very_ much. He probably couldn’t live without it.”

Shouyou gasped, eyes growing wide. “Does that mean he’ll disappear if he doesn’t get a grown-up drink? Uncle Suga can’t disappear!”

Keiji tried not to frown at that. He didn’t know where this came from. A four-year-old shouldn’t be worried about people leaving his life, right?

“Don’t worry Shou, Uncle Suga’s not really going to disappear,” Keiji quickly said, bowing over the table to whisper it to him conspiratorially. “But if he doesn’t drink coffee in the morning, he’ll fall asleep during work, so he needs it to stay awake if it’s really early in the morning.”

Shouyou’s eyes widened again at that and he giggled as suddenly the doorbell rang. He gasped loudly and shot underneath his chair. “Don’t tell Uncle Suga where I am, daddy! Please?” the boy pleaded.

Keiji chuckled. “I won’t tell him, but I’ll warn you,” he said, wagging his finger, “Uncle Suga is a super good seeker.”

Shouyou squealed softly and scooted further under the table and Keiji laughed at his antics. Then he walked to the door and opened it, only to be met with not Suga, but Bokuto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also its been just a few hours and we really hit 1k now and im just - hAPPY?!  
> ThaNKs YALL


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternative title; a lot of self-indulgent fluff and a sick akaashi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah so this is like  
> tooth-rotting fluff along with a little shouyou/bokuto convo

Keiji stumbled a step back in shock. What- what was Bokuto doing here? How did he know where he lived? Then it dawned in on Keiji; Suga.

“Where is Suga?” he asked Bokuto in the nicest voice he could muster. His voice still sounded like he hadn’t talked for months; rough and hoarse.

Bokuto sent a chipper smile his way. “At the daycare! He called me and said he was supposed to pick Shouyou up, but he had to go in early to open so I offered to bring him there if that’s okay with you.”

He _offered_? Keiji couldn’t _believe_ this man. He was up early out of free will to take _Keiji’s_ kid to the daycare.

“I- I don’t want to burden you,” Keiji protested weakly.

“Oh no, it’s no biggie,” Bokuto answered with a grin, “I’m free on Wednesdays so it’s fine.”

Realizing there was no way to get him to not do this, Keiji sighed and smiled. “Fine, if you’re sure you want to.” Then his eyes widened and he scrambled to open the door further. “Gosh, I’m so sorry I didn’t let you in, please come inside. Shouyou is in the kitchen.”

Bokuto chuckled. “Calm down, Akaashi-kun. It’s fine. You’re not though, aren’t you supposed to rest when you’re sick?”

Keiji quietly grabbed Shouyou’s shoes and jacket before closing the front door and walking back to the kitchen, Bokuto hot on his heels.

“I had to get Shou ready. You can just call me Akaashi or Keiji, whatever you like best. There’s no need for honorifics.” Keiji felt himself blush slightly at the thought of Bokuto calling him Keiji, god knows why.

When they walked back into the kitchen Shouyou had already given up on hiding and was back on the stool, happily munching away on his sandwich.

“Where’s Uncle Suga?” was the first thing he asked. Then he spotted Bokuto and gasped. “You’re Mr. Bokuto, the cool owl man! That’s what Uncle Tooru calls you, right? Why are you here?”

Bokuto chuckled. “That’s right, Tooru calls me Owl-chan. And I’m here to take you to the daycare, Suga-kun had to be extra early today.”

“Cool!” Shouyou exclaimed, sandwich long forgotten on his plate. “Did you know I _work_ there?”

“You do?” Bokuto asked, happily playing along.

“Hmm,” Shouyou hummed excitedly, “I do! Just like daddy, ‘cause I’m old enough now so I can go to work with daddy every day.”

“So cool, you’re so big already,” Bokuto gushed.

Shouyou nodded excitedly. “But we’ve gotta hurry, or we won’t be on time! That’s what daddy always says.”

“Woah,” Bokuto whispered, acting like he was in awe. “Your dad is so responsible!”

Shouyou’s eyebrows scrunched together at that. “What does that mean, rep- respos-”

“Responsible?”

Shouyou nodded. “Yeah, that.”

“Well, I’m not sure what it means exactly,” Bokuto said laughing, still playing along, “I’m not as smart as your dad. But I believe it means something like- that you’re really cool, you know? And that people can trust you and you’re always on time.”

Shouyou gasped softly. “Then I want to be reposilly too!”

The boy seemed to have forgotten about all annoyance he felt for Bokuto the night before when he was ‘in his seat’. “Bokuto-san, will you help me tie my shoes?” Shouyou asked.

“Of course.”

Keiji gladly sat down in his chair as Bokuto took it from there, resting his head in his hands. He felt like he hadn’t slept properly for weeks. His head was pounding, he was tired and his entire body felt way too hot, but cold at the same time.

Bokuto looked to the side and quickly finished tying Shouyou’s shoelaces. Then he stood up. “Shouyou,” he said to the small boy, “what about you put your jacket on and wait for me by the door? I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay,” Shouyou chirped, “bye daddy!”

“Bye Shou, have a good day,” Keiji said, smiling to himself.

“You too!” Shouyou sang and skipped off to the hall.

Bokuto took the stool next to Keiji and shot him a concerned look. “You sure you’ll be alright on your own? You’ve got a really bad flu, I think. You’ll need to rest a lot, okay?”

Keiji gave Bokuto a weak smile. “I appreciate your concern, Bokuto-san, but you really don’t have to do this. Really, I can get dressed really quickly and-”

“No you can’t,” Bokuto said, interrupting him. “You’re sick, I don’t have anything to do today. What kind of friend would I be to not help you out right now? And if I don’t have to use honorifics, you shouldn’t be so polite either. Just call me Bokuto, or Koutarou or a nickname if you want to. I don’t really like it when people are too… too _polite_ with me.”

“I prefer calling you Bokuto-san, though,” Keiji protested.

Bokuto smiled. “Fine, I’ll just try to think of it as your nickname for me. But now you have to go back to bed and fall asleep.”

With that, Bokuto stood up and walked around the stool. When he easily lifted him up in bridal style, Keiji was so shocked he didn’t even think of protesting. Bokuto’s jacket felt cold against his bare side, and suddenly he felt very self-conscious.

The first thing he managed to think after that was _damn, he’s so nice to me_ , quickly followed by _holy shit he’s actually carrying me, just how strong is he?_

Keiji’s mind involuntarily flashed back to the day they met and Keiji had had a fairly hard time keeping his eyes off Bokuto’s biceps. They’d been _huge_ and apparently not just for show. Apparently they were also _very_ strong.

Then he let his body relax, melting into Bokuto’s arms and burying his face into the soft fabric of Bokuto’s shirt. Bokuto was a good guy. _Very_ good even, Keiji wasn’t even surprised by how much he already trusted the man.

A few seconds later, Keiji felt himself be lowered onto his mattress and later realized Bokuto was in fact _tucking him in_.

He was already half asleep when he heard his bedroom door fall shut with a soft click, and he was asleep before he could hear the front door.

***

Keiji wasn’t sure what exactly woke him up, but what he _did_ know that was a bowl – with soup? – on his nightstand and that he’d been asleep for more than three hours. Keiji frowned.

He remembered in a haze that Bokuto had closed his door when he left, but now it was opened. He could just barely hear sounds coming from the television in the living room. _Bokuto?_

Keiji dragged his heavy body out of bed and stumbled to the living room, tangled up in his blankets. There, on the couch he indeed found Bokuto, who was watching some old animal documentary on his tv.

When he noticed Keiji standing in the doorway, he sat up straighter and immediately flashed him a bright smile. “Oh, ‘Kaashi, you’re up! Sorry if I’m being intrusive or a little too forward, but you were really sick and I didn’t want to leave you alone here, so after I chatted with Suga-kun a bit I came back! Suga-kun gave me his spare key.”

“No no no, you’re not being intrusive at all,” Keiji said sleepily, heavily leaning on the doorpost. “If anything, you’re being too nice.”

“Nah,” Bokuto said simply, waving it off. “C’mere, sit down with me for a bit. Do you want the soup?”

“You made it?” Keiji asked softly and let himself be guided towards the couch.

“Yeah, I got the recipe from my mom. She always made it for me like that if I got sick when I was little. Wait a sec, I’ll go get it for you.”

With that, Bokuto was off. It gave Keiji some time to think.

Why was Bokuto being so nice to him? They barely knew each other. More importantly… Why and how did Keiji feel so okay with this all?

He felt like he didn’t have to worry about anything, which was a very uncommon feeling for Keiji around people he hadn’t known for a long time. He even hadn’t warmed up to _Suga_ this quickly.

Bokuto came back with a bowl and another blanket, probably for himself. Keiji just quietly observed him. he really was good-looking, and he moved around Keiji’s house like he’d lived there for years.

He had a strong build, but Keiji considered the way he handed Keiji the soup and draped the blanket over his legs when he sat back down on the couch as _gentle_.

And yes, he’d already seen this man in a very excited state and knew he was (most of the time) anything but gentle, making bad jokes and laughing at them with his loud voice, but he _was_ right now and it was endearing how careful he was being around Keiji.

Bokuto’s voice shook him out of his thoughts and Keiji barely managed to keep a blush down when he realized what he’d been thinking.

“Aren’t you going to eat it?” Bokuto asked, pointing to the soup.

“Yes, of course – sorry,” Keiji hurried to reply, and quickly took a spoonful.

“Don’t apologize for things like that,” Bokuto laughed. “Is the soup still warm?”

Keiji smiled down at his lap. “I’m sorry. Yeah, it’s still plenty warm. It’s delicious, thank you.”

Bokuto leaned back on the couch, folded his bare arms behind his head and smiled.

 _Don’t you dare,_ Keiji told himself sternly, _don’t look at his biceps._

“It’s no big deal,” he said, turning his head to look at Keiji. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

Keiji smiled genuinely. “Yeah, I guess.”

***

When he finished his soup, he put the bowl back on the table and couldn’t stop a yawn from slipping out. Bokuto, who was _still_ watching the documentary, noticed and chuckled to himself. “Tired again?”

Keiji looked down and nodded, a slight flush in his cheeks. He was so rosy and sleepy he had no control over his actions and emotions and he hated it.

Bokuto smiled at him. “You can just lay down, if you want. Don’t worry about me. Wanna watch a movie?”

Keiji shrugged. “Okay, I have some movies in the drawer under the table. It’s mostly Disney though, Shouyou loves it.”

Bokuto visibly perked up at that. “Really? That’s awesome, I love Disney!”

Then he practically _dived_ over the table to reach inside the drawer. After not too long, he picked Mulan and put it in the dvd-player.

“Mulan is one of my favorite movies,” he explained, not looking at Keiji but intently watching the screen instead. “Always gets the tears going when she’s left alone in the cold… I love the songs, too.”

Keiji smiled. “So you’re a crier with movies?”

“Hell yeah I am,” Bokuto laughed, not even bothering to deny it. “I’m not one bit ashamed of it.”

“You shouldn’t be,” Keiji murmured. They sat in a short, comfortable silence while watching the opening when Bokuto tapped his thighs. He shot Keiji a sideway glance.

“I- uh… The offer is still up, you know.”

Keiji didn’t _want_ to blush, but did so anyway. He quickly thought it over and decided it couldn’t do any harm, so he stretched his legs over the length of the couch and laid his head in Bokuto’s lap.

“Is – Is this okay?” he asked, suddenly shy. Bokuto hummed. From then on, they continued to watch the movie in silence.

About halfway in, Keiji’s eyes started to droop. Suddenly, a big, warm hand was softly placed on his head. Bokuto softly raked his fingers through Keiji’s short curls, and he involuntarily tensed up a bit.

“This doesn’t make you uncomfortable, right?” Bokuto asked softly, worry laced in his voice. “If it does, I can stop.”

He didn’t stop for the moment though, and the soft fingers massaging his scalp felt so relaxing he almost fell asleep right then and there.

“No,” Keiji mumbled sleepily, his words slurred. He cuddled up in his blanket a bit further and pressed his nose into Bokuto’s jeans (and strong thighs). “’s Nice. Keep doing it please.”

Bokuto smiled, Keiji heard it in his voice when he said “okay”.

Keiji smiled as well and with the hand in his hair and the soft lull of the movie and Bokuto’s humming-along with one of the songs it didn’t take long before he actually fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay  
> that was it  
> im back i guess  
> i hope you liked it, ive kinda made a planning for all other chapters i have planned (did that even make sense, i dont think so) and im planning to post it on friday (next week cause im going on a holiday to spain for like four days yay me) and i dont want to have responsibilities when im away so yall will have to wait a little ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭*
> 
> please leave kudos or comments if you feel like it (*¯ ³¯*)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; in which suga tries to be intimidating (and succeeds) and bokuto gets asked out by a four year old kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dunno, its kinda long-ish for my doing and a bit later than i wanted, but eh. i hope youll still enjoy it

** Sugawara Koushi **

Suga indeed hadn’t been able to take Shouyou with him that afternoon, but his new friends Nishinoya and Tanaka could. Suga had just finished his date with Daichi and had picked up Shouyou from Tanaka’s to bring him back to Keiji’s place.

At Keiji’s doorstep, he found himself with one hand holding onto Shouyou’s and keeping his spare key in the other. He quickly opened the lock and Shouyou was about to run past him inside the apartment. Suga stopped him and crouched down to eye level.

“Do you want to play a game on your dad?” Suga asked conspiratorially, sending Shouyou a n almost childish grin.

The boy’s eyes widened and he nodded excitedly.

“Then what about you are really quiet and sneak to your room? I’ll distract him and when he goes looking for you, you give him a good scare!”

“You mean like ‘boo’?” Shouyou exclaimed, bouncing in place from the excitement.

Suga nodded with a grin. “Exactly.”

Shouyou nodded again. “I’ll be reeaallly quiet!”

Suga knew the boy loved playing hide and seek (that’s why he suggested it in the first place), though the little boy wasn’t very good at it. When he was hiding, he wasn’t very good at keeping his hiding spot a secret because he’d constantly giggle or squeal and move around out of nervousness and enthusiasm.

When he had to be seeker, he very easily forgot he actually had to search for people and got distracted by every little thing. That didn’t stop Shouyou from loving it. He was always looking for opportunities to hide from people so they’d have to look for him, or he’d pretend he had to find people, even if they were right in front of him.

Then Suga pushed the door open and Shouyou immediately bolted (not very quietly) past him, through the hall, past the living room and into his bedroom.

The door to the living room was (strangely enough) opened. Usually Akaashi liked to have his doors closed most of the time, a weird habit of his.

Suga closed the front door behind him and took off to the living room. When he walked through the door, he was met with quite an… _interesting_ sight.

Akaashi and Bokuto had both fallen asleep on the couch, cuddled up together, two empty bowls resting on the small table. For a minute, Suga was speechless as he watched the two, casually spooning each other. He _so_ called it.

Then he remembered Shouyou in the other room and quickly walked up to the couch to shake Akaashi’s shoulder. The black-haired man slowly opened his eyes and noticed. right away in what position they’d been sleeping. He didn’t seem all too shocked to Suga, though.

Without a word to him, Akaashi shook Bokuto’s shoulder. The latter wasn’t as quick with waking up; he just groaned and nuzzled his face further in Akaashi’s shoulder.

Suga was still… speechless. What was going on? Why were they sleeping together? Why were they cuddling? Why was Bokuto still even here?

“Five more minutes,” Bokuto grumbled when Akaashi shook his shoulder again.

“No, Bokuto-kun, Suga is here. Get up.”

That _did_ wake the bigger man up. He immediately bolted upright, almost throwing Akaashi off the couch. His eyes darted through the living room frantically before landing on Suga, standing on the other side of the couch. His cheeks flushed darkly.

“I- uh… we-” he spluttered out. Suga found the whole situation rather amusing. Hell, he and Daichi had even talked about how they’d probably get along well before they’d even met each other, this wasn’t much of a shock. He wasn’t going to let them know that, of course. This was going faster than he’d expected and would at least _pretend_ to be shocked by their sudden closeness.

He turned to Keiji. “What’s going on?”

“I- erm…” he mumbled, slowly sitting upright and moving away from Bokuto. “We were watching a movie and I was tired, so I just laid down for a bit-”

“And then we just fell asleep!” Bokuto added, finishing Akaashi’s sentence. Akaashi nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, sure,” Suga said skeptically, “you fall asleep and then _whoops_ , you’re suddenly spooning each other.”

“It just kind of happened, I guess,” Akaashi weakly retorted.

“Why?” Bokuto asked, a small frown forming. “What’s the matter, Suga-san?”

“We’ll talk later,” Suga said with narrowed eyes, “but for now, clean yourself up. Keiji, Shou is hiding, the usual game. Be glad I saw you guys before he did. He’d have a _lot_ more questions than I have now.”

To be honest, he only had a few, but the two were just too easy to rile up and Suga was probably enjoying this a bit too much.

Akaashi looked away and nodded. “I’ll go get him,” he said and walked away.

Once he was out of earshot, Suga shot Bokuto a menacing look. “Bokuto, I honestly think you’re a very nice guy, but please do tell me; what are your intentions with Keiji?”

 _Yes, he was most definitely enjoying this too much_.

Bokuto’s eyes widened comically and his gulp was almost audible in the now silent living room. “I- What do you mean?” he asked, now finally looking Suga in the eye. “I don’t know, how about being friends? I don’t have any _bad_ intentions, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

 _Straightforward and honest, even when he’s being cornered,_ Suga thought. _Another good thing._

“I’m not trying to scare you off, Bokuto,” Suga said, resuming his little act. “At least not yet. But I’m very careful with Akaashi and simply looking out for him. I’ll let you know we are all very protective of him. Now, enlighten me, what do you think of Keiji?”

Bokuto swallowed loudly. “What I think of Akaashi?” he said, thinking out loud. “I think he’s very cute and pretty, and really nice. And Shouyou’s super adorable.”

Suga narrowed his eyes a little further. It was clear Bokuto was speaking the truth.

“And what do you want with him?” he pushed. This wasn’t a part of the act. He trusted Bokuto and genuinely thought he was a friendly and good person, but he knew Akaashi. It was mostly an act, but he was also genuinely worried. He’d already expected for them to get along very well, but this was going a bit fast.

“I don’t know what I want from him,” Bokuto replied calmly. He had probably seen Suga’s questions coming. Suga often denied it, but he knew his presence kind of screamed ‘protective mom’ sometimes. He’d been told that often enough to know it had to be true in some sense.

From outside the living room, they heard a faint “Ha, I got you!” followed by loud squeals and happy laughter. Suga saw the warmth in Bokuto’s smile and almost broke his façade. It was just _too cute_ -

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Bokuto then spoke up again. “I mean, I think I like him but we haven’t really known each other for long, so I’m just getting along with him nicely and seeing for myself if it grows or dies down. I don’t have the courage to do anything with my feelings without knowing for sure he returns them anyway.”

Suga was silent for a while. He had kind of expected for Bokuto to develop some kind of crush or adoration for Akaashi. Daichi had already told him Akaashi was _exactly_ Bokuto’s type. That’s why he had been afraid he’d go for Akaashi’s looks, but was happy with Bokuto’s answer. He liked that Bokuto was going to see what happened instead of acting on rash impulses like Daichi said he usually did.

“If you end up really liking him in the end,” Suga then replied, choosing his words carefully, “then please be careful and patient with him. Take good care of him. I know him very well; he never feels the need to tell anyone what’s exactly on his mind until he breaks. You’ll have to- you’ll need to ask him about it and give him some time, he’ll come around soon enough when something’s the matter.

But really, you’ll have to promise me that whatever happens, you’ll give him all the time he needs.”

Bokuto nodded, a bit dumbfounded. “I- I promise.”

“Good!” Suga chirped, feeling like the time to talk seriously was over. Really, it was fun, but it’d been long enough now. Back was the usual cheery and friendly Suga.

Bokuto laughed a bit awkwardly. All this talk about Akaashi had probably made him pretty curious, but Suga hoped he wouldn’t ask anything too soon. But no, he’d probably need some time himself to find out if he did actually like Akaashi or didn’t.

** Akaashi Keiji **

Lifting his now squealing and giggling son up in his arms, he couldn’t help but be a bit worried about Bokuto being stuck with Suga in the other room. He had no doubt Suga would interrogate him and try to intimidate him, which he most definitely would succeed in. He’d probably threaten Bokuto a bit too.

He quickly shook his thoughts off and lifted Shouyou higher to blow a raspberry to his stomach. Keiji couldn’t help but chuckle at his son’s hysterical giggles. “I got you,” he repeated, softer this time.

“You’re always so good at finding me daddy,” Shouyou whined once his giggles died down a bit. “It’s not fair!”

“But when I hide, you always find me very quickly as well, that’s not fair either,” Keiji argued, still smiling. Shouyou quieted down further as he wrapped his little arms around Keiji’s neck.

“Are you feeling better now, daddy? Uncle Bokuto said he was gonna make soup for you and I wanted to help, but Uncle Suga and me had to stay at work.”

“He did,” Keiji said, “that was really nice of him. I also took a nap, so I’m feeling a lot better now.”

“Will you come with me to work tomorrow again?” Shouyou asked softly, giving Keiji an almost shy look.

Keiji laughed again. “Yeah, I think so. But didn’t you want to say hi to Bokuto-san?”

Shouyou gasped loudly. “Uncle Bokuto is still here?”

When Keiji nodded, he started to wriggle until Keiji put him back down on the floor. Shouyou immediately dashed off towards the living room, where he threw the door open and bounced inside. _Suga must’ve closed it,_ Keiji thought, _so I couldn’t overhear his interrogation._

He smiled to himself and rolled his eyes. Suga was really transparent sometimes.

A loud “Uncle Bokuto!” from Shouyou pulled him out of his thoughts.

The “Shou-chan!” and loud crash that followed made him quickly follow Shouyou to the living room. The sight he was met with made him stop in his tracks and he stepped back, leaning back against the doorpost.

Bokuto now laid on his back on the floor, the table was shoved aside a bit and Shouyou was sat on Bokuto’s stomach, Bokuto tickling the small boy mercilessly. Suga had sat down on the couch and wasn’t looking at the pair, but smirking in Keiji’s direction at his smile instead.

 

After a minute, Bokuto let Shouyou go and the boy jumped on Suga’s lap. Bokuto sat back up, but didn’t get back on the couch, keeping his eyes on Shouyou.

“Uncle Suga?” the boy asked the man softly.

“Yeah?” Sugawara replied just as softly.

“Did Uncle Bokuto _really_ make soup for daddy?” Shouyou said, lowering his voice further in an attempt to whisper.

“Why do you ask me?” Suga asked in return, lightly frowning.

“’Cause daddy said so but he also always says he brushes his tooths every night but sometimes he forgets and falls asleep before he can do it, so I want to know for sure.”

Bokuto choked out a laugh and Suga cackled at Keiji’s quickly forming blush.

“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep that late, Shou?” Keiji asks sternly, but it didn’t leave much of an impact thanks to his still reddening cheeks and the stupid laughing of his supposed _friends_.

“Oops,” Shouyou whispered, turning to Keiji with big eyes. Then he plastered the biggest, most fake but cute grin on his face. “Yeah, daddy! I am sleeping then, but the little tooth fairies always tell me!”

“Do they now?” Keiji asked skeptically, to which Shouyou nodded frantically.

“Every morning, ‘cause they always help the tooth fairy and they check our tooths every night!”

Keiji smiled and nodded as if he completely understood now, which was enough for Shouyou, he turned back to Suga and asked again if Bokuto had really made soup for Keiji. When Suga nodded, a huge smile spread on his face.

“Thank you, Uncle Bokuto!” he exclaimed. “Daddy said he’s all better now so now he can go back to work with me tomorrow and Tobio’s dads said they already missed daddy!”

Then an idea (obviously) occurred to him and he gasped. “Uncle Bokuto! Can you come to work with me one day? Then I’ll show you where daddy and me work and Uncle Suga too, and I can show you my friends and maybe you can play with me and daddy and-”

“Shouyou,” Keiji butted in. “You can’t just say that, bud. Bokuto-san has his own work he has to go to, just like us.”

“Uncle Bokuto works too? Where?” Shouyou asked frowning.

“I’m a cop, I work with the police,” Bokuto offered. Immediately Shouyou went starry eyed.

“You’re a police man? That’s so cool! But- you were with daddy today, so you don’t work every day right? Just like we don’t have to work on the last days!”

“Shouyou!” Keiji scolded gently. “What is Uncle Bokuto doesn’t have much time? It’s rude to just assume he has the time and even wants to come. How about you first ask him that?”

“Oh,” Shouyou said, shoulders slumping a bit. “Okay, Uncle Bokuto, I… I’m sorry I was rude. Do you want to come with me to work one day?”

Bokuto smiled. Keiji knew Bokuto didn’t really mind if Shouyou talked to him impolitely, but Keiji had to be strict. Other people later on _would_ mind, if Keiji didn’t correct Shou now.

Bokuto seemed to be thinking about something, but not for too long. “Of course I want to, Shou-chan,” Bokuto answered with the same sweet smile still on his lips. “I’d love to! If it’s alright with your dad, of course.”

Keiji pulled up one eyebrow at that and nodded with a tiny smile of his own when Shouyou turned to him expectantly.

“Yay!” the boy cheered when he saw Keiji’s nod. “Then when can you come?”

“What about next week?” Bokuto said. Shouyou frowned and looked down at his fiddling fingers. After a bit, he looked at Suga.

“Uncle Suga, how many sleeps is that?”

“Only seven sleeps, Shou. That’s really soon!”

Shouyou’s face immediately brightened up again. “Yay!”

Bokuto chuckled and stood up. “I’ll go home now. I’ll see you soon.”

“I’ll go home as well. Daichi’s staying over,” Suga said, lifting Shouyou off his lap.

“ _Please_ tell me he’s staying at yours?!” Bokuto said, eyes growing wide. Suga’s mouth fell shut with a loud snap and his cheeks immediately started to burn.

“Yes,” he then managed to say, causing Bokuto to sigh, obviously relieved. Keiji held back a laugh at that. he didn’t even want to know what kind of… _actions_ Bokuto already must’ve walked in on.

A few minutes later, when Bokuto had already left in his beat-up car, Suga lingered a bit longer on the doorstep. “Of course you don’t like him,” was the last thing he said with a smug grin, “don’t worry too much, Keiji. He likes you _just_ fine.”

Then he pulled the front door shut behind him once more, leaving Keiji in the hall, standing speechless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment or kudos if you liked it~~  
> aLSO  
> i dont know if anyone even reads these but OMG THANKS??!?!?!!! in the last few chapter i suddenly got so much support like out of nowhere and i reaaally appreciate it. thanks for all your kind comments so far and THANKS FOR HITTING 1500 WITH ME?! im really surprised and happy this is going so well, i never expected to get so much support and so many hits and people actually liking it (at least i assume people like it at least a bit with the aLMOST 150 Kudos?!! THANKS again)  
> so ye that was it im happy, thanks, bye


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; in which bokuto rambles and suga freaks the fuck out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaand im back on schedule! i actually quite like the ending. its a liiiiiittle over 2k, i hope you'll like it too ;)

Suga’s words kept mauling in Keiji’s head all week. He heard Suga say it, over and over again. “He likes you just fine”.

What did that even mean? Why was he even still thinking about it? Suga was probably just… being _Suga_ again. It totally sounded like a Suga thing to say, like he knew something you didn’t or at least wanted you to think he did.

This time, Keiji thought he knew fairly well what Suga was implying. He was convinced Bokuto and he would make a good couple and thought Bokuto liked him. He even thought Keiji already liked _Bokuto_. Which was a half lie.

Of course Keiji liked Bokuto, he was nice enough. But Suga wanted for them to romantically like each other, and there was the untrue part. Keiji didn’t like Bokuto like that, and Bokuto had no reason to like Keiji like that either.

How would he even be able to? They’d only known each other for maybe three weeks and had only met up three times, of which twice with all their friends present and once when Keiji was _sick_. They hadn’t really talked together, when Keiji was sick and the two of them had been alone all they’d done was sleep.

Right when Keiji was thinking all that, the earlier mentioned man all but barged inside his classroom. All kids had been picked up already, even Shouyou, who was with Tobio on a ‘playdate’.

Since Shouyou had really wanted Bokuto to come visit his ‘work’, he was pretty disappointed when he heard he’d be coming a day earlier when Shouyou wouldn’t be there, even before Shouyou would’ve gotten to show him around.

That was quickly forgotten when his Uncles reminded him it would only take five more sleeps until Bokuto would come to the daycare _just_ for Shouyou. Keiji’d had to promise he wouldn’t show Bokuto around too much, though. Now Bokuto was here to pick Keiji up.

The reason Shouyou was with Tooru and Hajime was because a few kids stayed until late at the daycare and they’d offered to take Shou with them so he could play with Tobio a bit longer at their place.

Then in the evening, Tobio would go to Hajime’s mother and Shouyou would come along to Suga’s place where he could sleep, since the friends had finally found a night where all of them were free and had decided to have a movie night and sleepover.

“Hi ‘Kaashi!” the older man nearly yelled, clearly excited for the movie night. “You ready to go?”

Keiji nodded. “I’ll have to warn you beforehand, though,” he said while gathering his stuff. “We usually play rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to pick the movie we’re watching, and Tooru or Suga always wins. Tooru’s pick always has at least something to do with aliens and Suga’s picks are really just terrible in general.”

“Ha,” Bokuto scoffed. “I’m an undefeated rock-paper-scissors champion, I’ll beat them and pick a cool movie! Something- something like… Disney! Yeah, a Disney movie, or maybe DreamWorks. Hey, don’t you think it’d be a good idea to go with the Bee Movie? It’s one of the movies I took along with me, it’s hilarious. I have a shirt at home with the entire script on it in _super_ tiny letters!”

Bokuto just kept rambling as they walked outside. Keiji locked the building and got in Bokuto’s car. When Bokuto dropped himself in the driver’s seat next to him, the man was still talking. Keiji almost didn’t want to bother to even try to follow his rants, but figured it’d be rude to just not listen to him at all.

“-So I told them I wouldn’t really have much time to eat after my Friday shift if we’d be going to his place immediately after, and then he said you and him would come up with something. So yeah, he practically promised you two would cook for us, which I think is super nice.

But, you know, please don’t make anything with too many veggies in it. Dai-chan always forces me to eat them but I really don’t like them. So I was hoping you could maybe bake something instead, cake would make everyone a lot happier than veggies. I promise.

Hey, do you think Suga has whipped cream? I love whipped cream, I really like that you can just kinda spray it and its really sweet and stuff. Do you think Suga would let me have his whipped cream?”

Keiji sighed to himself. Right, and they wanted him to believe Bokuto was a grown up man, police officer and also _older_ than Keiji?

He sounded more like Shouyou than a responsible adult at the moment, but to Keiji’s surprise he didn’t really mind Bokuto’s loud personality that much. In fact, he found it to be more amusing than annoying.

On their way to Suga’s apartment, Bokuto only sometimes stopped talking to ask Keiji a question, to which he gave short answers to let Bokuto know he was still listening.

He actually kind of liked hearing Bokuto talk so freely. His personality combined with his constant switching of topics (and the topics in itself) were amusing and Bokuto had a nice voice. A little too loud for Keiji’s liking, but nice.

At Suga’s place, Keiji opened the door and had to step aside quickly to prevent Bokuto from bowling him over, seeing how fast he was past Keiji and inside the apartment.

“Hi!” he heard Bokuto’s voice say all the way back to where Keiji was still standing. He shook his head to himself. This was going to be a long night.

“Daddy, daddy, come inside!” he then heard Shouyou’s bubbly voice say and instantly a smile made its way onto his face.

“Hey Shou,” he said, picking the boy up and settling him on his hip. “Ah, you just keep growing, you’re so big already!” he fake whined. “You’re getting so heavy! It won’t be long or I won’t be strong enough to pick you up anymore.”

This seemed to shock the boy, but he quickly smiled again. “Oh! I have an idea, when you can’t we’ll ask if Uncle Bokuto will do it for you. He’s _suuuuuper_ strong.”

“Is that so?” Keiji said smiling. “We’ll see how much longer I can lift you, and then we can see if he can help me.”

Suddenly remembering Shouyou’s playdate, he poked him in the stomach, emitting small giggles from the boy. “How was your playdate with Tobio?”

Shouyou pouted a bit. “He always wins and when I say I’ll beat him next time, he always tells me I’m too sloppy and I suck! He’s really mean.”

Then his face cleared up. “But he’s also really nice to me because we were racing and I fell on my knee and it really hurted but then he gave me a hurt sticker. I didn’t even cry!” the boy rambled as Keiji slowly made his way into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind him with his foot.

“Look, daddy, my sticker is really pretty!” Shouyou then yelled excitedly and proudly, almost kicking Keiji in the face as he shoved his leg in the air. He was very desperate to show his father the bandaid.

It was green with pink and purple flowers on it. “Ooh,” Keiji said, “that’s indeed a very pretty bandaid. It was very nice of Tobio to give you that.”

Shouyou nodded fervently, eyes shining with happiness. “Yeah, he told me it was his daddy’s! he went on a super dangerous secret mission for me to find Uncle Tooru’s hurt stickers and it really took a long time because he didn’t want to ask Uncle Tooru, because he wanted to give it to me himself.”

That made Keiji let out a laugh. “The sticker is Uncle Tooru’s?” 

Shouyou nodded again. “Yeah, and it _really_ was a dangerous mission, because Tobio told me his Uncle Tooru is really pertective of his stickers and never wears other, and Tobio and Uncle Hajime always have to wear others!”

Keiji laughed again. “You mean protective?”

“Yeah, that!” Shouyou beamed.

Keiji laughed once more. Of course Tooru would be protective and possessive over his _flowery bandaids_. Keiji wasn't surprised.

“And your knee really doesn’t hurt?”

Shouyou shook his head. “Not anymore, because of Tobio’s sticker. But it did hurt a little when I fell. I also had a little bit blood but I really only cried a very little bit!”

“Big boy,” Keiji said, nuzzling his face in Shouyou’s neck, where he knew the boy was extra ticklish. Shouyou’s loud spurts of laughter and cries of “No, no stop daddy!” were _almost_ louder than the crash that came from the kitchen, followed by loud screams from Suga and hysterical laughter of Bokuto.

Almost.

 

Keiji sighed and placed Shouyou back on the floor and rolled his eyes. “You go to the living room, okay? I’m going to check up on Uncle Suga and Uncle Bokuto, make sure Uncle Suga doesn’t break down his kitchen.”

Shouyou let out a loud “okay!” and before Keiji knew it, he was off.

To be honest, Keiji was more scared of _Bokuto_ breaking down or blowing up Suga’s kitchen instead of Suga himself, but Shouyou almost idolized Bokuto and Keiji didn’t want to ruin that for him so early on for Shouyou. That’s why Keiji had sent Shouyou back to the living room; he decided it was best for Shouyou to not see too many of the chaos they’d undoubtedly created somehow.

When he walked into the kitchen, he was immediately pulled further in by Bokuto.

“Careful, ‘Kaashi!” he hissed. “This is a warzone, we have to catch it before it gets away!”

Then the door was pulled shut behind him. Keiji had to take a moment to take in the mess they’d made in the kitchen.

A plate laid scattered on the floor, Suga was sat on the counter with a shocked expression. He had a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. A can of whipped cream lied next to him.

Now that Keiji’d seen the can of whipped cream, he couldn’t unsee the suspicious white blotches on Suga’s ceiling and – was that whipped cream in Bokuto’s _hair_? There was also sauce – tomato sauce? Maybe it was curry sauce? – on the wall behind Suga.

Bokuto had an almost feral look in his eyes, also with a spatula and frying pan in his hands. He also had a colander upside down on his head, hair sticking out at some places and in the front.

To say it shortly; it was a mess. Keiji was speechless.

“W-What-”

He stopped talking again and coughed once. The embarrassing squeak was gone from his voice when he tried once more. “What the hell is going on in here?”

Bokuto’s grin didn’t really help in making him look less ‘gone wild’. “There was a moth, it was huge, really! We’re fighting it.”

The way he said those last words almost sounded _… proud_. Keiji had to restrain himself from hitting Bokuto.

“Where is it now?” he said instead. His voice sounded cold and rather… _empty_. Keiji mentally applauded himself for not giving into the urges of holding an angry rant, especially because Suga had been deathly afraid of moths for as long as Keiji’d known him, and according to Hajime and Tooru a lot longer than that.

“Behind you on the door,” Suga squeaked with wide eyes. “Get it away, get it _away!_ ”

Keiji rolled his eyes and wordlessly walked up to Suga, grabbing a glass from the cabinet above him. “Wimp,” he hissed in passing when he turned back to the door, grinning at Suga’s offended squawk and expression.

The moth was indeed big, but Keiji still couldn’t for the life of him understand what was so scary about them. He carefully placed the glass against the door, successfully trapping the moth.

“Give me a paper,” Keiji then said, extending his hand out behind him. His voice still sounded emotionless, if not tired, and Keiji was pretty proud of himself for not freaking out.

Bokuto wordlessly handed him a large sticky note, god knows where he got it from. Keiji decided it was probably best to not question the weird things Bokuto did too much.

With the paper, he carefully pushed the moth inside the class and placed it over the opening. Without saying another word, he went outside.

Sometimes Keiji really thought he needed new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oKaY Thanks to all of you so much (again) cause we got 250 hits in just oNE CHAPTER??!??!?!??!?!   
> yall are too good for me geez ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ
> 
> if you liked it, feel free to leave kudos or a comment ~~~


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; in which they have a sleepover and suga is a creep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2k HITS IM SCREAMINF THANK

The diversity of personalities of Keiji’s friends (and family) was once again visible in their table manners. Really, Hajime and Keiji were the only sane people of the bunch.

For example, Tooru refused to eat anything without holding his pinky up and Shouyou made a terrible mess of his plate, face and clothes. Bokuto kept forgetting to not talk with his mouth full, as Keiji had to remind him for the fifth time now that he should chew and swallow before he spoke.

Yaku had taken his new boyfriend with him to introduce him to them, and Lev and Keiji’s friends were obviously getting along just fine. He kept cracking terrible jokes that were somehow funny with Suga and Sawamura in between bites. Whenever he made any jokes about height, Yaku made sure to give him a good kick.

In Keiji’s opinion, Hajime really was the only other sane one.

It was a mess, but a good mess.

Suga and Keiji had cooked together for all of them, since they'd planned a movie night and sleepover, but most of them hadn't had the time to eat dinner after work before coming over. Suga and Keiji were the best cooks of the bunch and so the destined cooks.

Translation; they didn't mess up as often as the rest so were forced to cook, because if anyone else would have to do it they'd all starve or die of food poisoning.

Keiji looked up from his plate and caught Hajime eye. They rolled their eyes at each other as the jokes were getting worse every minute.

Sometimes people (cough Tooru and Suga) called them the stoic duo, but Keiji just called it not being as crazy as his other friends.

***

After dinner, they easily fell into their usual routine, everything going faster than usual thanks to the new additions, bringing along extra sets of helping hands.

Keiji and Yaku washed the dishes, now with the help of Sawamura, while Suga and Hajime collected all the movies that'd been brought along and prepared the popcorn and ice cream.

 Hajime was there to keep an eye on Suga, since Tooru and Suga always teamed up to pick the worst possible movie. Hajime had to make sure Suga didn't sneakily hide any of the movies, which Keiji could definitely see him doing if Hajime hadn’t been there.

Usually Tooru was in charge of building a pillow and blanket fort in the meantime, but since they were with almost twice the amount of people, so it had to be a lot bigger. He got help from Lev and Bokuto with that.

When the dished were done, Keiji prepared a futon in the guest room for Shouyou. It was already half past seven. Usually Keiji put Shouyou to bed at eight, but the boy had had a very busy day and Keiji could clearly see he was already on the brink of sleep.

Keiji was right; as soon as Shouyou’s head hit the pillow and Keiji had tucked him in, his eyes were already falling shut.

“Night, Shou,” Keiji murmured, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “I’ll read you two bedtime stories tomorrow, okay?”

“Night daddy, love you,” Shouyou muttered sleepily in reply.

“Love you too Shou.” Keiji pressed another kiss to his forehead, shut the lights off and went back to the living room.

They were all staying there for the night, but Keiji had no idea how late they were going to sleep. At least too late for Shouyou to be up, so Keiji put him to bed now.

When Keiji got back, the small table was filled with bowls of popcorn and the living room was a mess, but the blanket fort was standing and _enormous_.

Everyone had already found a spot inside and it made a very cozy sight; very large men struggling to fit inside and two unrecognizable blanket heaps. There was no doubt the rolls were Yaku and Suga, but Keiji wasn’t sure who was in which roll.

Yaku was very small, but Suga was flexible and had the ability to completely curl himself up in a tiny ball.

Keiji smiled when he saw they’d left the spot between them open for him; between one of the rolls and Tooru. Behind that on the couch sat Bokuto, and Keiji had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

Of course they wouldn’t let him sit anywhere if it wasn’t close to Bokuto. His friends were sneaky meddlers like that.

Keiji usually wasn’t too fond of crowded places, but he loved warmth and closure when it came to people he loved and trusted.

He let himself plop down on the floor between the Suga-roll (a little peek of his eyes and beauty mark was visible now) and Tooru, gladly taking the blanket Hajime handed him from behind Tooru.

The two were sat next to Keiji on the floor, Tooru between Hajime’s legs sharing one big blanket completely wrapped around the two of them.

Keiji then proceeded to transform himself into a blanket burrito as well. He was a good five (was it seven?) centimeters taller than Suga and wasn’t as flexible by far, but he was actually pretty… _foldable_ himself. Once he was comfortable, Keiji leaned back against the couch and turned to Hajime.

“He didn’t try to cheat, did he?”

“Akaashi,” Hajime said, scoffing. “You do realize it’s Suga, right? Of course he tried to hide my movies, and some others as well, like always, but I caught him.”

Keiji shook his head, a smile threatening to slip on his face. Suga was… _extremely_ stubborn, to put it nicely. He would probably never stop trying to (discreetly) hide the movies Tooru and he didn’t like.

“Let’s just go with rock paper scissors, like usual,” Tooru chirped, seemingly not affected by the time and the fact that Suga failed his mission this time.

“But ‘m comfy,” came a grumbled reply from somewhere inside the Yaku-roll, who was in turn wrapped up in Lev’s blanket

Keiji was thankful Suga and Sawamura weren’t being as gross as usual. Sawamura was sprawled out on the couch with Bokuto instead, their lower legs meeting in the middle (it was a good thing Suga had such a ridiculously big couch) and not with Suga. Suga had decided to pop his head out of his blanket heap, though, and Sawamura was softly stroking Suga’s hair.

 _No,_ Keiji strictly told himself. _No complaining, be happy they’re not all cuddled up like the others._

“Suck it up, you baby,” he told Yaku instead and turned around to face everyone.

Yaku grumbled something unintelligible and a hand hesitantly appeared outside the blanket.

“Rock, paper, scissors, _go_!” Suga said, taking the lead. Groans filled the room when half of them were immediately eliminated. The remaining four played a few more rounds, until only Suga and Yaku were left. It was hopeless.

They kept picking the same thing, and Keiji was getting a bit tired of it. His position was not comfortable at all and he just wanted them to get on with it.

“Suga, you pick first, then if not everyone’s asleep by the end Yaku picks another one. We usually watch multiple movies anyway,” Hajime then said, probably understanding (and agreeing with) Keiji’s irritation. _Bless him_.

“Fine,” Yaku grumbled and retracted his hand, back into the pile. Suga beamed and waddled over the television, where he and Hajime had earlier laid out all the movies they had brought along.

Keiji sighed. He already knew what Suga was going to pick; just before he’d… installed himself in their blanket fort he’d spotted ‘ _The Room’_ and ‘ _Rubber_ ’. There was no doubt Suga had brought those movies and since there was also no doubt Suga or Tooru would be winning rock paper scissors one way or another, there was also no doubt Keiji would have to suffer through at least one hour of absolute nonsense again. Like always.

Not that he actually minded. No one could know that, though. He wasn’t here for the movies, but for being with the people close to him and spending a nice evening with them. The only difference that day was the addition of three new people that Keiji could tolerate.

It would be a nice evening, Keiji thought to himself. At least the others were (slightly) happy with the terrible movies, and happy friends meant happy Keiji. He would do anything to keep them all happy.

Until Suga noticeably frowned for a second. Immediately afterwards his smile grew even wider than it had been before. “Oh my god!” he exclaimed, scrambling to pick up one particular movie. He held it up to show everyone, eyes glistening with excitement. “Oooh my god, ‘ _The Room’_! Who brought this?”

Keiji frowned. A bad movie that wasn’t about aliens and wasn’t brought by Suga? At least, Keiji assumed it was another ‘so bad they’re good’ movies, seeing how excited Suga was. He heard some rustling behind him, but was too scared to look.

He didn’t have to, because Suga told him enough and made him want to crawl in a hole and not come out before this night was over.

“Oh my god, Bokuto, please marry me?! Where did you even get this, I couldn’t find it anywhere! Okay, that’s it, we’re watching this. Bokuto, thank you, you’re a blessing,” was Suga’s exact reaction.

“I know, right?” Bokuto exclaimed enthusiastically behind him. “It’s one of my favorites!”

Keiji felt like crying. This was going to be a very long night.

***

The next morning, Keiji woke up with a crick in his neck and an extremely sore ass. Next time he would most definitely be on the couch again, he mentally vowed.

He slowly opened his eyes and noticed almost everyone was still asleep. Luckily someone had thought of turning the television off before falling asleep.

Keiji really, _really_ didn’t feel like getting up, because even though his neck was stiff and there was a foot pressed into his lower back – whoa, wait. When did Suga’s shitty couch get this comfy? And where did the leg against his back come from?

Suddenly, he heard the click of a camera. A few feet away, Suga was grinning like a madman, phone in his hand, pointing it in _his_ direction. Keiji shot Suga a confused look, but the latter just put his index finger to his lips and shushed him. “Cute,” Suga mouthed.

Keiji frowned, now even more confused. What? _Cute_? Why was the camera pointed at him, he wasn’t _cute_?

He looked at the other couples next to him, still completely wrapped up in each other. No, _they_ were cute, not him. Most definitely. So why did Suga take a picture of _him_?

Then Sawamura walked into the living room (Keiji only now noticed he’d been gone in the first place), a damping mug in each hand, handing one to Suga. Keiji managed to muster up enough energy for an eye roll. Of course. Suga and his need for morning coffee.

Then Sawamura looked at Keiji and his eyes widened comically. His face twisted weirdly, making it obvious to Keiji he was trying very hard to repress a snort (or something like that). Keiji didn’t care much for the details of that, at the moment. Right now, all Keiji wanted was to stay right where he was in his sticky, comfy blanket with his head resting on the surprisingly comfortable couch.

Still out of it, he closed his eyes again and nuzzled his face further into his headrest. He had almost fallen back to sleep, until his headrest began to stir. Through a sleepy haze, Keiji half registered his hand moving to still the pillow and mumbled “No, stay. ‘M comfy.”

His voice sounded slurred, the words not coming clearly. He didn’t care.

He vaguely heard Suga squeal softly, probably muffled by his hands.  He cracked one eye open again. Was he - Was Suga filming him?

“What the hell, Suga,” he muttered angrily, not fully able yet to form coherent thoughts and sentences. A hand made its way into Keiji’s hair, and without even thinking further of it, Keiji leaned into the gentle, warm hand, weaving through his hair and gently massaging his scalp.

Another squeal, again from Suga, made him snap out of it. His head shot up, knocking the hand limply to the side.

Suga giggled, but Keiji paid no mind to it, eyes trained on the hand. That _familiar_ hand, attached to a strong arm that was in turn attached to a very good and very sleep drunk body (much like his own half-awake body), belonging to a curled-up figure with crazy two toned hair and the strong thigh Keiji had been sleeping on.

 _Oh_. Well, fuck.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back, sorry for the long wait! i hope you liked it.
> 
> i made a tumblr in case someone feels like talking or smth, you can find me here; http://astinaea.tumblr.com/ (i dont know how to make a click-link thingy so you gotta copy n paste sorry)  
> if you liked it please leave kudos or a comment?!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which suga teases and bokuto throws an egg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gah sorry i feel like all chapters are the same lately

Finally realizing the rather cozy position Bokuto and he were in, Keiji shot up. Bokuto stirred again behind him, but Keiji paid no mind to it, staring incredulously at Suga.

“How long?”  he hissed, feeling his cheeks heat up. How long had they been lying like that? Had the others seen them like that too? Keiji hoped they hadn’t. He didn’t really feel like enduring more teasing from his friends. Specifically because Bokuto himself was present this time and Keiji didn’t want to risk things between them getting awkward.

“Basically all night,” Suga chuckled and Keiji groaned.

“The others?” he asked. He didn’t need to say more, as Suga understood and snickered to himself.

“Don’t worry, they were all asleep when you two suddenly started to get cuddly!” The sing-song tone of Suga’s voice confirmed all Keiji’s worries; he had definitely taken pictures and would absolutely use them as blackmail material.

 Keiji felt like punching him, but knew that would be of no use, since Suga would just simply punch him back a lot harder and keep the pictures.

Keiji groaned and got up, keeping his blanket wrapped securely around him as he stumbled to the kitchen. He quickly made a simple black coffee and went back to the living room, where Suga and Daichi had settled back on the couch together. Keiji took a big chair instead, carefully sipping at his steaming coffee.

“Is Shouyou still asleep?” he asked in between sips. Suga nodded. Nobody spoke for a while, and Keiji felt at peace in the near silence, only the breathing of his (mostly still sleeping) friends and the soft sunlight streaming to the blinds getting through to Keiji.

A loud yawn broke the peaceful silence as Yaku slowly started to stretch, waking up Lev in the progress. Bokuto still seemed to be on the brink of actually waking up and falling back to sleep, sometimes stirring but not opening his eyes.

“What time is it?” Lev asked after a loud yawn of his own.

“I don’t know,” Yaku muttered groggily in reply. Keiji smiled into his mug.

 Last night, Yaku had kept up his tough act, but it was clear to everyone how much he liked Lev. The younger man didn’t bother with covering his feelings, making his adoration for Yaku known to everyone who wanted (or didn’t want) to hear it. Loudly.

Then the door of the living room slammed open loudly, waking everyone else with a shock. “Daddy, you’re up already!” Shouyou cheered loudly, slipping into the living room and jumping on Keiji’s lap.

Multiple groans filled the room and a loud thud followed as Bokuto bodily dropped off the couch, tangled in his blankets.

Keiji chuckled. “Morning Shou. You woke them all up.”

“Really?” Shouyou gasped. “Then they can play with me now, right daddy?”

Keiji smiled again and gently rubbed his nose against Shouyou’s. “I think they’ll need some time to wake up properly first, Shou. I think they’re still a bit tired right now. I mean, look at them,” he said in a slightly mocking tone.

Shouyou turned around and giggled adorably at the sight of seven grown men pathetically cuddling into each other. Then his eyes fell on Bokuto, still lying on the floor and the sound that came out of his mouth almost sounded like a _squeak_.

“Mister Bokuto, you’re here too!” he yelled happily before squirming his way off Keiji’s lap and happily bouncing over to Bokuto.

The latter turned on his back with a sweet smile on his face that Keiji had to look away from, god knows why. Then he heard an “oompf!” and Shouyou’s happy giggling, and quickly turned back to the pair.

Shouyou had launched himself onto Bokuto’s body and was now sat on his chest. Bokuto was laughing, but Keiji still scolded Shouyou and told him to be more careful.

He knew Bokuto didn’t mind Shouyou’s energetic and careless behavior, but Keiji couldn’t have him jumping onto everything and everyone he saw or recognized. He’d have to go to elementary in a few months and he’d have to learn to be more polite and careful with other people.

Shouyou was easily distracted, way too energetic and a little forgetful, and Keiji knew he didn’t do anything of that on purpose. He’d have to be careful, though. Keiji didn’t want to be _too_ strict, but Shouyou needed to know when he was being disrespectful and when what he did was okay.

Suga laughed at the antics of the energetic pair and stood back up, pulling Sawamura with him. Next to Keiji, he slowed, leaning down to whisper in his ear. “ _They get on like a house on fire_.”

Keiji rolled his eyes at the obvious grin in Suga’s voice. Bokuto and Shouyou indeed got along very well, but then again they were both people that were almost impossible to dislike.

“We’ll go bake some pancakes or something,” Suga then said out loud, and then the two were off. Finally, some life was to be seen in the Iwaizumi pile. Tooru’s head popped out from the blanket, his bedhead as messy as usual, in contrary to how perfect and ‘artfully tousled’ it looked during the day. At least, that was what Tooru himself called it.

It took him a few seconds to peel his eyes open, blinking sleepily a few times to adjust to the bright light. “Good morning,” he said, sounding a lot more awake then he looked.  Hajime behind him muttered something unintelligible, but Keiji knew by experience it was probably something along the lines of “go back to sleep Shittykawa” or “shut the fuck up Tooru”.

Tooru chuckled and craned his neck to press a kiss against Hajime’s temple.

“Eh-” Lev spoke up again, “what time was it again?”

Keiji chuckled. “Sorry, I forgot to look.” He got off his chair and walked to where his phone was charging and checked the time. “It’s almost nine thirty. No one had work today, right?”

“Nope,” Tooru said.

Bokuto shook his head. “I don’t, I believe Daichi doesn’t have to either.” He then lifted Shouyou off his chest and stood up. He put Shouyou back on the floor and stretched leisurely.

Keiji had heard enough from Suga and Tooru about those stupid romance novels to know it was probably best to look away. He was just in time to avoid the cheesy and stereotypical stretching-with-skin-showing moment.

He scraped his throat and stood up as well. “I’m going to check up on those two,” he then said with a (only a little bit forced) grin. “You know, see if they’re actually baking pancakes or just being useless gays again.”

“Oh, I’ll go along,” Bokuto said laughing and indeed followed him to the kitchen.

As Keiji’d been expecting, of course Suga and Sawamura weren’t focusing on baking the pancakes. He suppressed an eyeroll and a sigh before shoving the couple (that had been sweetly making out against the counter, letting a pancake burn) aside and wordlessly flipping the pancake.

It wasn’t burnt that badly, Keiji observed. Also, the two just went back to making out like Bokuto and Keiji weren’t there. He knew they (or at least Suga) wouldn’t stop even if he said something about it. So, he just let them be.

Until the noises were getting a bit too… graphic for his liking. He turned to Bokuto, who’d been looking closely at Keiji’s pancakes. Keiji shot him a pleading look. “Bokuto-san, could you please do it.”

He didn’t need to say more, because Bokuto nodded gravely and beamed. “Gladly,” he said, sounding relieved. Keiji bit back a smile of his own as Bokuto then proceeded to grab an egg from the fridge and chuck it at them. It landed soundly on the back of Sawamura’s head, splattering loudly and effectively stopping them.

“Thanks,” Keiji said, not sparing Suga and Sawamura a second glance as he turned back to his pancakes.

“With pleasure,” Bokuto said, also returning to watching the pancakes. In the background, Keiji heard Suga scoff loudly and Sawamura chuckle.

“Sorry,” the latter said, actually managing to sound apologetic. Suga just scoffed again. “Yeah, well I’m not.”

“I know,” Keiji commented drily, “but you were getting gross.”

Suga made an offended noise. “Ugh,” he then said, crossing his arms with a pout. “As if you two aren’t gross. Look at you, all cute together, acting like an actual married couple.”

Keiji knew Suga was just provoking him, and he didn’t mean to tense up as much as he did. He quickly forced himself to relax again as Bokuto just laughed it off. “What if we told you we actually are?” Keiji then said, just to try and get back at Suga.

“I’d believe you,” Sawamura said in Suga’s place. “I think you were right after all,” he then said softly to Suga, just loud enough so Keiji could hear it too.  “I mean,” he continued, louder again, “that thing you just did? It was almost like you have a telepathic bond or something.”

“Was not,” Bokuto said, childishly sticking his tongue out. “You’re just jealous ‘cause I’m besties with ‘Kaashi now and not you.”

Keiji raised one eyebrow, almost at the same time Suga did, “Am I now?” Keiji said skeptically, again almost at the same time as Suga said “is he now?”.

Bokuto faked a theatrical shudder. “That’s just creepy, you know that?”

They shrugged, completely at the same time now.

“That’s indeed kinda creepy,” Sawamura chuckled, wrapping his arms around Suga’s waist from behind. “I think you’ve been defeated, Bo.”

Bokuto’s shoulders slumped slightly, before Keiji pepped him up again by saying “come on, there wasn’t a competition in the first place. Plus, I’ve known Suga for four years now, you for… maybe two months?”

“Less than that,” Sawamura helpfully added.

“I’ll definitely beat you some day, Suga!” Bokuto promised with a happy glint in his eyes before storming out of the kitchen.

“I’ll go take a shower and make sure he doesn’t ruin your apartment,” Sawamura said, pointing to the back of his head, still sticky from the egg. Then he quickly pecked Suga’s lips before going after Bokuto.

Suga chuckled to the ground and shook his head with a fond smile on his lips. Then he walked closer to Keiji, bumping hips with the younger man.

“You don’t have to be scared, you know,” he murmured after settling beside Keiji.

“Scared of what?” Keiji asked.

“Liking someone.”

“I’m not,” he replied instinctively. He furrowed his eyebrows. “I just really don’t like anyone like that at the moment.”

Suga hummed. “Sure, sure, but… You know I won’t try to set you up anymore, but- Bokuto’s really nice, you know and he gets along really well with Shouyou.” Keiji already knew where this was going and shook his head, but kept silent.

“I know he thinks highly of you,” Suga continued, “I’m not going to push you further, even if it may sometimes seem like I want to, but I am not going to stop telling you he could be good for you and Shouyou to keep around, as a friend or- or whatever you want.

When you do find someone you like, don’t be scared of acting on your feelings or rejection, okay? You say you don’t need it, but everyone will at some point, unless you’re aro ace of course. But- you get my point. You deserve it just as much as everyone else.’

“I’m not,” Keiji said, not looking at Suga. He flipped a pancake. Satisfied with the color, he laid it on the plate with other finished pancakes. “Aro ace, I mean. But thanks for the sympathy, I guess. I- I think I am demi, though, so don’t bother. Maybe I’ll find someone later, maybe I won’t- it’s fine, Suga. Really. I’m okay with just you guys and Shou.”

Suga smiled, though Keiji though there was a bit of a sad gleam in his eyes. “I already though you were going to say that, but okay. Then I’ll leave it at that.”

Keiji sent Suga a genuine reassuring smile. “I mean it, Suga. Thanks for the sympathy. I really appreciate it. It’s really nice to know you guys always have my back.”

At that, the sadness disappeared from Suga’s grin as he slapped Keiji’s back a few times, almost leaving Keiji having to gasp for air.

“I keep forgetting you’re stronger than you look,” he wheezed, resisting the urge to double over, lightly leaning on the counter instead. “You should be - be careful with - hitting people, Suga. You hit the air straight out of my lungs.”

Suga’s grin grew wider, effectively warning Keiji for the bad joke that was about to come. Keiji was already thinking of ways to shut him up before it was too late, when a loud crash came from the living room.

Suga laughed. “I’ll check,” he said and left. Keiji sighed in relief. He was saved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alSO i got like 350 reads over one chapter im very happy yay thanks dudes
> 
> find me on tumblr: astinaea https://www.tumblr.com/blog/astinaea  
> i dont really do anything interesting, there's nothing up, but yall can message me there or ask shit if you feel like it


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; in which leg is savage and they go on a picnic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'sup, it took me a very long time to finally finish 13 but here it is! i have no idea how japan and foods and stuff work so i just used basic things. hope you dont mind. enjoy!

Two hours later, everyone was finally dressed and ready to go. Somewhere in the morning Hajime’s mother had dropped Tobio off at Suga’s place and the three had already left. They’d planned to go to Tooru’s family over the weekend and it was a pretty long drive. Tooru wanted to be there as early as possible, so when Tobio arrived they’d left immediately.

When they were gone, Shouyou quickly started to get bored. At the moment he was continuously asking Keiji if they could do something fun that day. Keiji sighed and gave in after the twenty-seventh time.

“Stop asking me so many times, Shou,” he said. “What would you like to do?”

Shouyou’s eyes immediately started to shine with glee once he heard that. He stood up on the couch he, Bokuto and Yaku were sitting on, watching some documentary while the others washed the dishes.

It was also very likely Suga was interrogating Lev like the mother he denied to be, but Keiji couldn’t find it in himself to care about that. If he hadn’t gotten the feeling that Lev was an okay guy in the beginning, he’d probably be in there with Suga.

“I, eh-” Shouyou said, thinking hard about what would be a fun thing to do. “I got it!” he exclaimed after some time. “Can we go on a picnic, daddy?”

Keiji smiled. That was one of the things he loved most about Shouyou; he wasn’t very whiny or needy. He was always happy with everything he got, no matter how small it was. He never asked for big things if he wanted to do or buy something, never asked for enormous presents for his birthday…

It wasn’t like Keiji didn’t want to or couldn’t afford to give him bigger presents, but he found it annoying when kids always wanted only the biggest and most expensive. Shouyou didn’t need luxurious, expensive things.

For his fourth birthday, all he’d asked for was ‘lots of extra playtime with daddy and lots of hugs’, even though they were already together at the daycare. When Keiji had asked why he didn’t ask for toys, all he’d said was that ‘daddy’s a lot better than toys’ and had given Keiji’s leg a strong hug.

“Of course we can go picnicking, Shou. It’s a nice day out, so we can go to the park, okay?”

“Okay!” Shouyou said happily, bouncing from excitement. It was moments like this that his son really strongly reminded Keiji of a puppy.

“Do you want to invite someone along or do you want it to be just us?” Keiji then asked. It’d be nice if Shouyou also played a bit more with friends outside of the daycare. Maybe he’d have friend that he wanted to come along other than Tobio.

Shouyou’s eyes grew even wider at the offer. “I can do that?” he gasped. Keiji smiled and reached out to poke his nose.

“Of course you can,” he said, “not too many though. You can pick one or two friends, okay?”

Keiji only then noticed that Yaku and Bokuto weren’t watching the documentary anymore but were looking at the two of them. Keiji lightly shook his head. Everyone’s reactions to Shouyou were always the same; something along the lines of “oh my god he’s adorable”.

Honestly, Keiji couldn’t judge them. Shouyou was most definitely going to be either popular or a heartbreaker later on, he was likeable like that.

“Oh!” Shouyou then said, sticking his hand in the air. “Can I ask Mr. Bokuto if he wants to come?”

Keiji’s eyes widened at that. Bokuto?

“Don’t you want to ask a friend from work?” Keiji gently asked. He had nothing against Shouyou’s wish of inviting Bokuto along, and judging by the suddenly a lot faster bouncing of his leg Bokuto didn’t either, but…

Shouyou shook his head. “Mr. Bokuto is my newest friend, I want to play with him!”

Keiji sighed and nodded. “Okay, then you can ask him. But you’ll have to be _really_ polite, okay?”

Shouyou nodded fervently and half-climbed over Keiji to face Bokuto. “Mr Bokuto,” he said with a serious expression, “do you maybe want to go on a picnic with me and daddy today? Please?”

Keiji softly rubbed Shouyou’s back. “Good job, Shou,” he murmured softly, smiling at how seriously Shouyou took everything. He always did his very best at everything he had to or wanted to do and it was endearing.

“Can I?” Bokuto asked in a surprised tone, happily playing along. Shouyou nodded excitedly. “Then I’d love to!”

A huge smile grew on Shouyou’s face. “Yay!” he exclaimed then, letting himself fall back onto Keiji. He smiled and took that unguarded moment to tickle Shouyou. A few seconds later, the little boy was like goo in his hands, squealing, squirming and giggling loudly under Keiji’s hands.

Then, Suga, Sawamura and Lev came back into the living room. Lev immediately sprawled himself all over Yaku, successfully dwarfing the older man. “Suga-san is scaaary,” he whined. Keiji narrowed his eyes at Suga, who just smiled innocently and made an a-ok sign with his fingers.

“No, he’s not,” Yaku sneered, “he’s just a little bitch with a good punch. He’s more soft and motherly than he wants you to think he is.”

“Yaku!” Suga exclaimed, a blush growing on his face. Yaku smirked and pushed Lev off of himself again.

“You see?” he said, “he’s just a big softie. You just have to know his weak spots and then all he is is an awkward bean.”

“A bit like you?” Lev then asked innocently. Keiji hid a smile behind his hands. The question sounded so genuine and innocent. But Keiji could see Lev already knew exactly how to rile Yaku up.

“I mean,” he continued, “you’re always mean to me and you kick me a lot, but at nights you always cling to me like a tiny, cuddly teddy bear and I know you’re watching me when I change in the mornings.”

Keiji had to suppress a snort. He was _good_. Keiji had already decided the guy was okay the night before, but now he changed that decision. The (youngest) lanky, clumsy and loud man wasn’t just _okay_ , he was perfect for Yaku and hilarious. He seemed (and was) a bit hard to control sometimes, but Yaku managed that just fine. Anyone who dared tease Yaku like that deserved a medal, in Keiji’s opinion.

“You- you… I-” Yaku spluttered, growing very red at an alarming speed. He then proceeded to kick Lev in the shin. Hard.

“See?” the taller man whined, clutching his leg. “You’re always so mean to me. How do I even manage to survive with such a mean _boyfriend_?”

“God, you’re-” Yaku said and proceeded to yell some more incoherent sentences. Lev just chuckled.

“I’m just teasing you, Yaku-san,” he said. He pressed a light kiss on Yaku’s nose and stood up. “I’ll get the coats,” he singsonged and walked away.

After a few seconds of the only audible sound being Yaku’s soft spluttering (still), Suga spoke up. “I did _not_ give that boy enough credit, he’s _good._ ”

Keiji nodded. “I approve,” he said to Yaku, also standing up. “Bokuto-san, I don’t know if you want to go to your place first? You could also come along to my place and help us prepare some food, I think that’d be the easiest.”

Bokuto grinned and nodded, getting off the couch. “I’ll come along with you, ‘Kaashi! Can’t have you doing all the work alone. You coming Shouyou?”

Shouyou nodded excitedly and bounced after Bokuto, grabbing hold of his outstretched hand. Keiji ignored the weird and suggesting looks he got from Suga.

“We’ll be leaving!”

***^***

It was a short walk from Suga’s to Keiji’s apartment, but since Keiji came on foot and Bokuto with his very old and rickety car they were there even faster. It only took them a few minutes until they were stood in Keiji’s kitchen, checking for ingredients.

“Okay, so what are we making?” Bokuto asked.

 “I don’t know,” Keiji said. “Shou, is there something you want?”

“The chocolate cakes!” the boy yelled from the living room, already playing with some old Lego.

“Okay,” Keiji summarized, “so we are making brownies and sandwiches... I guess I can make some pastries and smoothies.”

“Do you… bake often?” Bokuto asked.

Keiji shrugged. “Sometimes. I used to stress-bake _a lot_ when I just got Shouyou, but I don’t do it as often now. I still like to do it, though. Shou loves brownies, so I still make those sometimes.”

Keiji spun in a small circle, looking for small boxes or baskets to put the baked goods in when they were finished and spotted the plastic take-out ramen boxes from Thursday. “Look, good thing I still have those,” he said, picking them up and quickly rinsing them.

“I have no idea why I still didn’t throw them out, but they’ll come in handy today,” he told Bokuto absentmindedly. “Shou asked if we could order take-out some time, because he likes to give the money to the deliverer, so we ordered ramen. They should be good to use again now.”

“Do you order take-out a lot then?’ Bokuto asked.

Keiji shook his head, while he flailed around the kitchen to check if he _really_ had all ingredients. “Not really, I cook most of the time. But sometimes Shou asks for it and I don’t mind.’

“I- uh…” Bokuto began carefully, “I- I don’t mean to sound like I judge your parenting, really, ‘cause I don’t have any experience with little kids at all, but- don’t they usually say you shouldn’t give your kid everything they want?”

Keiji chuckled to himself, starting to prepare the batter for the brownies.  “You mean not to spoil them too much?”

Bokuto nodded. “Yeah, that. I-I’m sorry, but-”

“It’s okay, Bokuto-san,” Keiji said, interrupting him before his train of thought could get too destructive. “I don’t mind, really. I know it’s bad to spoil kids, and I know I usually give Shou what he asks for, but… Well, he doesn’t very often ask for things he wants, and if he does it’s never something very big or expensive or over the top, so I’m pretty much always okay with giving it to him. He’s always extremely happy with everything he gets, so I don’t think I’m spoiling him. He’s really… humble. I really couldn’t have wished for a better kid than Shou.”

“A good kid always comes with a good parent,” Bokuto simply said.

Keiji smiled. “Thank you. But, eh… we have all ingredients, since we don’t need big portions. We’ll just have to be careful with the eggs I have left so we don’t waste any, okay?”

“Great,” Bokuto chirped, “you tell me what to do!”

*^*

They worked together for about half an hour, preparing sandwiches, smoothies and batter for the brownies and pastries. They worked well together, like they’d been doing this together for years already instead of that being only the first time.

They easily fell into their places, smoothly moving around each other and fitting together like a clockwork. When the brownies and pastries were finally done and out of the oven some time later, they called Shouyou over and went to the park on foot.

It was only a block away from Keiji’s place, and he and Shouyou went there a lot. There were always people with dogs, which Shouyou loved, and there were always at least some kids for him to play with at the playground.

Keiji often went with him to lay on the grass when the weather was nice.  And to keep an eye on him, of course. If the weather was less sunny, he would play with Shouyou to keep warm (and because he often wouldn’t stop begging Keiji to play with him).

That day was a nice day, the early spring making that the days were finally were getting longer and warmer, the sun brighter. Flowers were starting to grow back, the temperatures higher. Keiji loved autumn, but spring was most definitely a close second.

They ate with casual banter and talking between them, Bokuto and he. Keiji realized only later, when the food was all gone and the chatter had died down, Shouyou off to play, that he hadn’t felt this at ease with many other people than his closest friends since a long, long time. Keiji thought it’d been around fifteen years ago, when his family was still okay and happy and together (with him).

He quickly shook those thoughts off again and laid down on his back in the grass, reassured by Bokuto’s warm presence at his side, the laughing and yelling of kids and barking dogs in the background.

This was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooooooo..... we're very close to 3k now. think we can reach it before i post 14? ^_^  
> i'd like/appreciate it if you left kudos or a small, tiny comment (maybe copy/write and drop your favourite sentence(s)/moment(s)). if not, okay, if yes, thank!
> 
> so ive recently been thinking of a shitload of prompts since i kind of have a lot of free time now (i dont but i pretend i do) so i wanted to start writing some oneshots and i was thinking of opening commissions?!   
> so yeah if you have a nice idea or a sentence prompt/ haikyuu pairing you want me to write about, hit me up @astinaea on tumblr <3 im also changing my ao3 name to astinaea so its easier for all of us


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; in which they dance and suga cries (and a girl finds something)  
> or; in which the story (finally) gets going

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *evil cackling*

 Almost two weeks later, on a Thursday, Keiji again found himself on the couch with Bokuto, this time in his own apartment. Shouyou wasn’t there, he was on a sleepover with Tobio. They did that pretty often; almost every week. They switched each time in where the boys would stay, meaning next week they’d both be at Keiji’s place.

Knowing he’d have the apartment to himself that night, he’d invited Suga, Daichi and Bokuto to come over for a movie night. Suga and Daichi had called a raincheck, since Daichi had to work first and would then take Suga out. Only Bokuto had showed up.

He’d also had work first, but he’d just taken a quick shower at Keiji’s and was now rummaging through his movie drawer again, most likely about to pick a Disney movie.

Keiji didn’t mind Bokuto’s obvious preferences, he was pretty used to it. He and Shouyou watched Disney movies all the time.

After a few more minutes, Bokuto had picked The Princess and the Frog. “This okay?” he asked, excitement already apparent in his voice.

“Sure,” Keiji said, grabbing some popcorn out of the bowl he prepared earlier. Bokuto popped the movie in and slid back onto the couch next to Keiji (a little closer than before).

Keiji didn’t have much time to wonder why he even noticed that, because his phone lit up with multiple messages from Suga. They looked urgent, so he picked up his phone and quickly scrolled through them.

 **(19.34) mom** ; hi

 **(19.34) mom;** is bokuto there

 **(19.34) mom;** keiji pls is he

 

 **(19.35) you;** He is, what’s wrong?

 

 **(19.35) mom;** oh thank god pls ask him for me if dai got off at the same time as him

 

 **(19.36) you;** He says no, he left then the other unit was needed as reinforcement. Daichi-san had to go with them. Why, is something the matter?

 

 **(19.36) mom;** ye idk thats the problem he was supposed to be here at 7 but hes not and he wont pick up his phone

 

 **(19.37) you;** Ah, shit, I’m sorry, I can’t help you at the moment… Tell me when you know more, okay?

 

Keiji put his phone away again. Bokuto must’ve noticed his worried expression, because he laid a hand on Keiji’s shoulder and asked “is something wrong?”

“Ah, not really, I hope,” Keiji said, sending him a reassuring smile. “Suga is worried, I guess. He and Daichi-san were supposed to go on a date but Daichi-san didn’t arrive at Suga’s place yet.”

Bokuto visibly relaxed at that. “Don’t worry, he told me he had to join the reinforcement unit before I left and some situations take more time than others. It can take a while, but Dai isn’t stupid. He can keep himself safe.”

“Good,” Keiji said, sitting back and pressing play. “Suga will text me again if he knows more, we don’t have to worry about it if you say he’ll be fine. Let’s watch the movie now.”

“Yeah!” Bokuto exclaimed, bouncing a little when he settled back into the pillows. Keiji’s mind did _the thing_ again.

_Was it his imagination, or was Bokuto now even closer than before? Why was he even thinking about that? Why would Bokuto even come closer?_

In the first twenty minutes, Keiji noticed Bokuto getting more and more restless. He was about to ask if something was wrong, when Bokuto suddenly stilled and turned to Keiji.

“I-I’m… Where is the bathroom?” Bokuto then asked, unknowingly answering Keiji’s question.

“It’s in the hall, first door to your left.”

“Thanks!” Bokuto shouted and speed walked away. Keiji paused the movie; Bokuto had more than once mentioned that The Princess and the Frog was his second favorite movie, Mulan coming first and Finding Nemo coming third. _Knowing Bokuto, he wouldn’t want to miss anything_.

The thought surprised Keiji, and set him to think. How long had he actually known Bokuto? Three weeks, a month maybe? How had he already come to know and understand him so well? He didn’t know many trivial things, like about his family, favorite color, lucky number, birthday, (sexuality)… but he _did_ know the ways of Bokuto’s mind.

Keiji knew Bokuto loved kids, he knew Daichi had been his best and only (best) friend since forever and that trusted Daichi with his life. Bokuto seemed like a simple-minded, open and free-spirited person, (and he also acted like it) but at some moments he was surprisingly sharp and attentive.

He always put himself second and was extremely passionate about the things he did and loved. Keiji could see that in _everything,_ one thing already being the way he watched his Disney movies; passionately singing and acting along with all the songs, mouthing (or yelling) his favorite lines perfectly in sync with the characters.

Bokuto was a sweet, enthusiastic and open-minded person, accepting even if he didn’t fully understand it. To Keiji, he was an open book. He was easy to read, but Keiji only liked that.

Most of all; Bokuto was a very emotional person. He very easily got mood swings if things didn’t go the way they were supposed to go and was very easily influenced by what other people said. He was very sensitive to failure or success, if people did or didn’t accept him, other people’s emotions and opinions, how he thought about his own actions.

If he did something he later thought of as too rude or straightforward, he’d get very down and constantly be afraid of having scared that person off, of that person hating him, of having offended or insulted that person.

He was a bit hard to deal with sometimes, Keiji had experienced that a few times already when they’d met up (just them or the entire group). But, Keiji also knew how to cheer him up again most of the times. He almost dared call them good friends at this point.

Keiji had grown very accustomed to having Bokuto around in a very (almost scarily) short time. Or at least, for Keiji’s doing.

 

Then Bokuto returned, face immediately brightening when he saw Keiji had paused the movie. The simple thing made Keiji grin to himself. He _so_ knew Bokuto would get upset if he hadn’t paused it.

That, again, surprised Keiji. _Since when was he so focused on keeping (or making) Bokuto happy?_

 

When Bokuto sat back down on the couch, there was no more denying that he was a lot closer to Keiji than before. The older man spread his arms out on the back rest of the couch and his side was actually _almost touching_ Keiji’s now.

Keiji could feel the warmth radiating off the bigger man beside him, and almost involuntarily leaned into it. Bokuto was like some kind of personal heater at this point, Keiji thought exasperatedly.

Literally every time the group met up, Keiji would (whether it was or wasn’t on purpose) be somewhere beside Bokuto to steal some of his body warmth, since Keiji was basically _always_ cold if by himself.

Keiji pulled his feet up onto the couch and curled into his knees when he felt Bokuto tense up beside him. When his body quickly relaxed again, Keiji leaned back into him and carefully placed his head on Bokuto’s shoulder.

He didn’t really mean anything with it, really. The position was just so much more comfortable.

Of course they weren’t _cuddling_.

He was sure Bokuto wouldn’t think anything of it either. Even if Keiji had meant anything with it, the man was as dense as a block of lead when it came to these things. He knew that, thanks to Daichi’s stories about high school Bokuto who almost every week received a confession (right to his face) from both girls _and_ boys, but _never_ realized they were asking him out.

 

When Bokuto didn’t flinch again, Keiji stayed rooted in his (rather comfy) position and pressed play again. From then on, everything was back to how it was before; the two of them watching the movie with varying degrees of enthusiasm, Bokuto singing along and mouthing the words.

They got more comfortable in their position later as Bokuto dropped his arm from the back of the couch onto Keiji’s shoulder and let his feet rest on his coffee table (after checking if Keiji didn’t mind, of course. He didn’t.).

Until they got to the scene (about thirty? Forty minutes later?) where Naveen and Tiana danced and Ray sang of his Evangeline. Bokuto took his arm off Keiji’s shoulder and moved forward, sitting on the edge of the couch, forcing Keiji to move his head.

He was fiddling with his fingers. _Nervous_ , Keiji’s brain immediately supplied. _He always fiddles with his fingers when he’s nervous._

“What’s wrong?” Keiji asked frowning, and _damn there did he go again, always trying to keep Bokuto happy._  Bokuto would _never_ interrupt a movie if there was nothing wrong.

“I- uh…” he said, visibly getting more and more nervous. “I usually- no, no I’m saying this wrong.” He lifted his hand to card it through his already messy hair and turned to Keiji, still fidgeting. Then he paused the movie, just before the particular scene began. Keiji was lowkey getting worried now.

He refused to look Keiji in the eye as he started explaining, almost talking too fast for Keiji to understand him. “Okay, so it kinda starts with Dai always telling me I’m a huge sap, which I kind of am,” he said, stumbling over his words a bit. “So yeah, I really, really love this scene a lot and kind of-  dance along… And usually I dance with Dai, ‘cause he’s my best friend y’know, and – well, he’s not here and-”

Keiji already knew where this was going after the first sentence. He smiled and lifted his hand, resting it on Bokuto’s knee. The latter looked up, looking even more nervous than he sounded, so Keiji let his smile linger just long enough for Bokuto to see.

“It’s okay, Bokuto-san. We’re good friends too, aren’t we? I could dance with you instead of Daichi-san, if you want.”

Bokuto’s entire face (and existence) lit up after a few seconds of progressing Keiji’s words. “Really?” he asked unbelievingly. “You would really do that?”

 _Way too easily impressed,_ Keiji thought smiling and let his brain file it away in his ever-growing list of Bokuto’s character traits. “I don’t mind, Bokuto-san. I’ll have to warn you, though. I can’t dance very well.”

“Oh, but that’s no big deal,” Bokuto said loudly, cheered up again. “Dai and me can’t either, it’s just… You know-”

“Of course,” Keiji said and stood up, pressing play again. Immediately Bokuto stood up as well, already softly singing along with the song.

Keiji forced all his thoughts into the back of his mind and circled his arms around Bokuto’s neck to rest there when he felt Bokuto’s hands fall lightly onto his hips. They were surprisingly gentle for a person so… loud, and clumsy.

Bokuto laid his head on Keiji’s shoulder, still softly singing the words next to his ear, the soft vibrations making him want to shiver. He suppressed it. Shivering would make Bokuto think he went too far, he would only later realize his own moment was ruined and fall into a bad mood.

_Trying to keep him happy._

They gently swayed together in his dimly lit living room, the only light coming from the television and the light of the street lights that was visible through the gap between his blinds and the window-frame.

Bokuto had a quite nice singing voice, very different from his normal voice. Where his speaking voice was raw and loud, his singing voice was soft and gentle, deeper, a bit hoarser. Keiji again had to repress a shiver.

 

He knew their position and dancing was probably not something casual friends did (best friends, okay, but just _friends_ ….). Or at least, it wasn’t when at least one of them regularly thought about how good-looking and endearing the other was, and the best ways to keep him up on his feet.

The whole moment felt very intimate to Keiji, and his mind kept telling him to move away _right now_ and forget about it, but his heart (and body; Bokuto so close to him kept him very warm) wanted him to stay right where he was and savor the moment.

Luckily, he didn’t have to choose.

Just before the ending of the song, the doorbell rang loudly. And again. And again. Urgent knocking was added to it, along with the (very panicked) voice of Suga, pleading him to _please open the door, quickly._

He jumped away from Bokuto, quickly telling him “sorry, this is urgent,”, sounding a bit out of breath to his own shock (confusion) and ran off to get the door. When he opened it, Suga fell into his arms, positively _shaking_ and with a tear-stained face.

“Oh my god,” Keiji heard himself mutter through a daze, before he said a little louder; “c’mon, Suga, let’s get you inside first, okay?”

When the man in his arms nodded weakly, Keiji shut the door and helped him to the living room, where Bokuto by now had sat back down on the couch, having paused the movie for Keiji. When he saw the state Suga was in, he quickly stood back up and helped Suga down, shooting Keiji worried looks.

Keiji left to get Suga a glass of water. When he came back into the living room, he was just in time to see (hear) Bokuto mutter “you look like you need a good hug,” before pulling Suga in his arms. Once that had happened, Suga burst into tears (again, probably), his entire body wrecked with loud sobs.

Keiji set the glass on the table and didn’t wait any longer to join the hug, squeezing Suga tightly. “I’m guessing it’s about Daichi-san?” Keiji softly asked after a few minutes, when Suga had calmed down a bit.

The latter freed himself of Bokuto’s (strong) arms took a sip of the water Keiji had left on the table and nodded, aggressively wiping his eyes.

Bokuto immediately shot up straight, eyes growing wide and dark. “What?” he almost growled out. “Did he do something stupid? Do you need me to hit him for you?”

A watery smile appeared on Suga’s face. “You won’t need to, Bokuto, don’t worry about that. It’s- the idiot wasn’t careful, like he _promised,_ and now he’s-”

He choked up again, and Keiji shifted beside him to softly rub circles on his back.

“He- he was helping out, rescuing people like the stupid hero and the- one of the culprits started shooting around, and Dai- he got shot, and he’s in the hospital and I- I l _ove_ him, Keiji, I can’t lose him now!”

Keiji smiled. “Did you only now realize you love him?”

Suga shot Keiji a confused look. “What?”

“You’ve _never_ been with people this long, Suga. I know you, and I’ve seen the way you look at him, heard the way you talk about him. I’m not stupid.”

“That’s exactly the problem, Keiji,” Suga said a bit breathlessly. “I’ve never been in a relationship this long, I’ve never loved someone, I have no clue what I’m doing. _Tell me_ , Keiji, what am I supposed to do now?”

“Is Dai okay?” Bokuto said suddenly, almost interrupting Suga.

“Critical condition,” Suga said, swallowing heavily. “But he’s alive.”

“Listen, Suga, Dai and I have been best friends for almost twenty years, I know him better than _anyone_. You come close, but that’s not the point now.

The thing is… Daichi tells me _everything_ , as long as I promise not to tell other people before he does, I guess. But, _everything_. Like how he’s very, very much in love with you but since he knows of your past bad relationships, whatever they may be, he was afraid to tell you ‘cause he was scared it’d be too soon for you.

He was afraid you didn’t feel the same way yet and he was super _super_ afraid to scare you off. So what are you even doing here? If he’s in a critical condition, go visit him! Akaashi and me will go with, right ‘Kaashi?”

When Keiji nodded (a little dumbfoundedly), he continued again.

“Okay, see? We’re right behind you. Dai’s strong and stubborn as a mule, he’ll make it. Just trust him. Then you’re gonna tell him whatever the heck you feel and you’re gonna have the _best damn relationship_ you’ve ever had, with Dai because Dai’s a huge sap and a dork and he _really_ loves you. Now, c’mon, we’ve got a hospital to go to.”

He demonstratively stood up (the movie long forgotten) and walked to the front door. Keiji and Suga remained on the couch for a minute, struck with surprise. _A lot more attentive and good with words then you’d expect him to be,_ Keiji’s brain filed away.

Then Suga smiled. “‘Akaashi and me’, huh? Please, for the love of everything that’s holy, keep him.”

He also stood up and walked away, Keiji quickly following him. Why did… something about Suga’s and Bokuto’s words sound so… nice? _Right_?

“ _Akaashi and me_ ” …. “ _Right, ‘Kaashi?”_ … “ _Keep him_ ” … Like they were… _together_.

That made Keiji stop in his tracks. He had _a lot_ to think about.

 

***

 

_The stairs that led to the attic were steep and creaky, but she went up them anyways. It wasn’t like she had another choice; it was the only place in the house she hadn’t searched yet._

_She needed to find things of one more family member, since four were, according to her teacher, not enough. She needed five, or more information about several already passed away family members. Her teacher even dared say she ‘probably didn’t even ask, geez. You sure have more family members than that.’_

_She didn’t._

_She needed a number five, and quickly, but her parents, aunt and uncle were the only family members she had_. Really! _Both her grandparents had all passed away already, most of them before she’d even been born._

_Her father was an only child and her mother’s brother didn’t have any children. She herself was an only child as well, since her parents had gotten her at a very high age (38 and 37) and hadn’t wanted to take the risk of having another child after that._

_She desperately hoped her teacher would be satisfied with only four family members if she added lots of information about all four (dead) grandparents. Because that’s why she was on a search; they had to write a paper on five living and close family members (so no nieces from aunts or stuff like that, whatever they were called. It wasn’t like she had those, anyway)._

_In the attic should be enough to go through; her parents inherited almost everything. There were tons of old boxes with clothes and accessories and photobooks for her to go through. She had still not found many useful things of her grandparents, almost an hour later, and she was getting kind of tired of it._

_She opened what must be the twentieth shoe box and sighed. Inside were (again) a pair of baby shoes and a thin photobook. They looked dusty, like they hadn’t been touched or even looked at for years, shoved behind all other boxes. When she moved a shoe over, she also saw a green pacifier._

_She groaned and let the box fall at her side. If she saw more baby clothes she was positive she’d go_ crazy _. Then it dawned in on her. She stilled._

_She’d never had a green pacifier._

_She quickly picked the box back up and took the photo album out of it. Could it be that she’d finally found something_ useful _? When she opened the photo album, her heart sank into her shoes._

_There were no nice, old photographs inside. Most of the plastic cases were empty, some held paper cuts. Some of the cases were completely ripped apart as well. It was almost like someone had intended to completely ruin the photo album in a fit of rage._

_Whose was this, and why was the album like this? Then she noticed a thin slip of paper – was it photo paper? – between the last two cases. She quickly pulled it out._

_The photograph was one she’d never seen before. When the realization fully dawned in on her, she almost fainted._

_On the picture was a boy around eight or nine years old with a baby in his arms. The boy looked a lot like her; black hair, lightly curling at the tips, olive skin, intense and lightly lidded green eyes. They could’ve been twins, had he been her age._

_The boy in the picture was looking down at the baby, and she almost shivered at the amount of love and pure adoration visible in his (young) eyes._

_These things made her head spin, but it was the third realization that made the strongest impact on her._

The baby in the picture was her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kay so hi im a bit early with the next chapter (like i promised but shh) but its a rly long one (for me) (3.5k?!!?!?!??!) and i love this one a lot so yea i hope you do too.  
> i could very much appreciate it if you would be so kind to leave kudos or a comment with your favorite part (or of course what i should do better thats very welcome too)  
> next chapter is a bit of a downer (sads) lol. i also like 17 a lot (spoiler hehehe)
> 
> i also have too many ideas but i need more so hmu @ http://astinaea.tumblr.com/ if you feel like it (or want to scream @ me abt literally anything)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which akaashi is an idiot and suga a Mother™

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have decided! there'll be 20 chapters for this, the twentieth being kind of an epilogue. I've already drafted it until 19, so i hope to update it a bit faster than before (if i can find the time).  
> THANKS FOR THE ALMOST 3,4 K
> 
> oN A SIDE NOTE, yesterday was my birthday (the 18th) so *yay me* this is kind of a birthday present from me to whoever feels like accepting this as a present.  
> i also have this tiny michidai thing that i'm gonna upload on the 24th because then i wrote it exactly a year ago and im sappy and sentimental like that (gee thats even before i got like rEALLY into haikyuu)  
> Please read on and enjoy!

Keiji didn’t _want_ to take a step back, but he knew he had to if he wanted to think his feelings over properly. He had to let the constant contact between him and Bokuto die down a bit, before the confusion could grow alarming enough for him to force him to make a conclusion.

The thing was, he simply didn’t _want_ to admit to having even slight romantic feelings for Bokuto. It was inappropriate, they were _adults_. He was too… old, too old to be hung up over something as pathetic as a crush, if you could even call it that.

No, Keiji didn’t do crushes, not anymore, not ever, didn’t need romance. He’d only gotten his life on track a few years ago, was now doing very well and having crushes, or liking someone was only a distraction of what was really important, and if there was anything Keiji didn’t need it was distractions.

So, naturally, he suppressed his feelings, whatever they were, and went on with his every day life. Or, at least, his every day life as it was before Bokuto had barged his way into it, which meant no more Bokuto. As little as possible. It could only confuse and distract him further if he kept hanging out with Bokuto like usual.

If they had survived this long without knowing each other, they’d be able to do perfectly fine not knowing each other now as well. At least, that was the case for Keiji.

What he didn’t know, was that Bokuto very much hated how blatantly Keiji was avoiding Bokuto now. How could he? It wasn’t like there was anything mutual he could go off on…

Bokuto was very easy to read and honest, but Keiji didn’t give himself much time or a chance, even, to read Bokuto whenever he _had_ the chance. He was taking this… taking a distance thing very seriously.

Their meet-ups (with just the two of them) had become a lot more frequent over the past two weeks, but Keiji wasn’t having it anymore. Any time Bokuto asked if they could hang out, Keiji declined or invited at least one other person to accompany them, so Keiji could pay attention to them instead of Bokuto. He simply could not risk being alone with Bokuto again.

The man was so incredibly dense in the romance department; he didn’t even realize it if (when) they did something that felt really intimate to Keiji. He didn’t realize how intimate exactly his actions sometimes felt at all, like the dancing from earlier. Keiji did not want to take the risk of having to experience something like that again.

Not that it was a bad experience, not at all. But that was exactly the problem, it was all just too comfortable, easy between them and it all just felt _right._ And way too distracting.

Keiji didn’t want to have to admit his childish, silly crush on Bokuto to anyone, much less himself. So, simple as it was, he didn’t. And that was fine with Keiji. Rather relaxing, actually.

It wasn’t that Keiji didn’t like being around Bokuto, but, again, the whole problem was that how tiring Bokuto’s personality was, Keiji never got tired of it. He only found it endearing, refreshing. It was all too exciting and confusing and Keiji didn’t want to have to think about it anymore.

His mind kept tiring him out with the way it constantly (consequently) went back to Bokuto.

Keiji just needed a break, to let his brain rest and make himself realize his crush on Bokuto wasn’t that big or romantic after all, but just an aesthetical appreciation for the man. Because that was what it was. Appreciation. Really.

 

*******

Why did it keep feeling like he was just trying to convince himself of that?

*******

“Hey, ‘Kaashi?” Bokuto asked.

“Hey, ‘Kaashi?” Bokuto asked. He seemed down, and Keiji was just about to ask what was wrong before he held himself back. He was still trying to figure out when it had gotten so important to him to keep Bokuto happy and smiling, and he was not okay with the possible explanations. Keiji didn’t want to see Bokuto unhappy, but he also didn’t want Bokuto to start relying on Keiji too much.

Bokuto took Keiji’s silence as an okay to continue, to keep talking and he let out a dramatic sigh before draping himself over the length of the couch. Suga and Daichi were there too, but Daichi was in the bathroom and Suga was at the door, paying for the delivery pizza they’d ordered.

Now, Keiji was alone, in his living room with Bokuto, and if how long the other two had been gone already was anything to go by, they’d intended for them to have some alone time. Most definitely on Bokuto’s (Suga’s) behalf.

“I don’t see you and Shouyou as often anymore as I used to, why’s that?” Bokuto asked, not looking at Keiji. “I- You- It feels like you’re avoiding me, are you?”

Keiji almost left the room then and there. This, this was exactly the kind of confrontation he’d been avoiding, or obviously at least trying to avoid. He wasn’t very successful. Keiji was always successful. Why did Bokuto change everything?

Keiji had no clue what to do at a moment like this. Did he still want to keep Bokuto happy or was he going to try keep his plan up, was he going to go through with it, keeping distance between them?

“No, I wasn’t avoiding you,” Keiji lied. Why was he so weak when he came to Bokuto? “I have just been very busy with some things, I haven’t had much time lately to meet up with any of our friends.”

That was at least one thing Keiji could always do; keep things business-like, professional _. Icy._ He hoped it would be enough with Bokuto.

****

**_Bokuto Koutarou_ **

“He _so_ has been avoiding me,” he whined for the, like, seventeenth time to Daichi the next day.

The latter shook his head. “I know, Bo, but there’s not much I can do about it. Did you… maybe… do something he didn’t like? I mean I’m not saying you did, but- You know, maybe he’s _actually_ been really busy? You shouldn’t talk to me about Akaashi, I don’t know him that well yet either. He’s pretty closed off to others, you know. If you want to know stuff, go to Suga. He probably knows Akaashi best out of everyone.”

Bokuto contemplated the suggestion. Shortly.

“You know, Suga is coming over in-- ten minutes. Ask him then.”

Right when Daichi finished his sentence, the door slammed shut and Suga came sauntering into their living room. _When did he get a spare key?_

Since the accident of three weeks prior, the two had become even closer and were practically inseparable now. It should probably be annoying to be third-wheeling them all the time, but with them it wasn’t.

They always included Bokuto in their conversations and their little lovingly-gazing-into-each-other’s-eyes moments were so cute Bokuto was sometimes tempted to just move into Suga’s apartment so he wouldn’t be there to interrupt them all the time. Then they maybe could live together and lovingly look each other in the eyes all the time!

They didn’t mind him being there, but Bokuto genuinely thought the two were kind of meant to be and deserved a lot more alone time. Sometimes he felt bad about it, but since Akaashi was barely talking to him anymore. He didn’t really have another place to go.

He hadn’t gotten that much time yet to get to know the others very well, like Yaku, and Hajime and Tooru. Akaashi though…

In the beginning he’d appeared kind of quiet and stand-offish, and very serious, but then quickly proved to be an awesome person. Bokuto had grown to really like him and had quickly realized his feelings weren’t very platonic.

He didn’t mind keeping things platonic with Akaashi, just being around Akaashi was enough for him. But now… in the almost two months he’d known Akaashi, he’d never acted as cold to him as he did now.

 Bokuto wasn’t really sure why. He had no idea what went on in Akaashi’s head sometimes, he was super hard to read. Maybe it _was_ something Bokuto had done. Maybe the dancing had been a bit too much, in the ending.

Bokuto had no clue, because Akaashi just wouldn’t talk to him. Not in private, at least. There was always someone else present, and Bokuto didn’t want to talk about things like that with other people there.

He just wanted one private moment with Akaashi, and even though Daichi and Suga had tried to give him that last night, finally some privacy, but Akaashi had straight out lied to him (Bokuto was sure of it) and then left to go ‘help Suga’.

 

All that was exactly what he told Suga that evening, too. He told the older man everything, from Bokuto thinking Akaashi looked like a gift from the gods since day one, to that feeling only growing. He told Suga that he’d also grown to really like every part of Akaashi’s personality he managed to find out about, despite his sometimes cold and mean façade.

He (only slightly blushing) told Suga he liked Akaashi very much, romantically. He also told him about the dancing thing from three weeks ago.

Suga pulled up only one eyebrow at that, making Bokuto jealous because he couldn’t do that but it looked really cool. He wasn’t surprised at Suga’s casual reaction, though. He’d probably figured out Bokuto’s feelings before he himself even had considered them. Suga was just… perceptive like that.

He did look a bit more surprised at Bokuto’s story of Akaashi completely avoiding him for the last three weeks. When Bokuto finished his story, Suga even looked slightly angry.

“That fucking idiot,” he murmured to himself, surprising Bokuto. He’d half expected for Suga to also say something about Bokuto being the idiot, that Akaashi really was really busy or didn’t like Bokuto at all, maybe even hated him. He even wouldn’t be surprised if Suga had told him Akaashi got moods as well.

Instead, he said “this is also a part of his personality, Bokuto. Do you really still like every part of him?”

Bokuto nodded, a bit confusedly. Of course this wouldn’t change his view of Akaashi, he was just scared _Akaashi’s_ view of Bokuto had changed drastically enough, that _that_ was the reason he wasn’t talking to Bokuto anymore.

“Oh, wow, thank the heavens,” Suga sighed. “Bokuto, you’re an angel. You see, what Keiji does is push things that are scary, or distracting, or confusing, away as far as possible. I think- I’m thinking you’re making him confused about what he feels and thinks, probably about you. He’s a tough nut to crack, but you’re well on your way Bokuto. Just… Just please keep trying, please hold on and stay. For yours, but also for Keiji’s sake.”

Bokuto nodded again, a bit stupidly.

“Don’t worry,” Suga then said. “I’ll take care of it, I know you want proof of his sexuality and everything, right? I’ll fix it, I’ll just need to stage a… small intervention. You’ll be back to how you were before soon enough, trust me.”

 

***^***

That’s how, more or less one week later the whole group was sat in a circle on Akaashi’s floor at eleven pm. They all had to be quiet, since Shouyou and Tobio were already asleep, so it wasn’t really a party. But it also kind of was, at least for Bokuto, since he and Akaashi were finally talking again, even though indirectly.

They had reverted to high school party games, currently in a very personal and emotional game of truth or dare, except that they were basically only asking truths.

Lev had just answered a question from Tooru about having any siblings and retelling his most precious story about them. He told a very moving story about how his older sister Alisa always protecting and supporting him when he was bullied in junior high for his ethnicity and name (and most probably also about how lanky and all he was). Bokuto had to pink a tear away.

Then Lev turned to Akaashi, and Bokuto braced himself. Suga had already spilled it to him that he’d managed to rope Lev into his plan to assure Bokuto, since Lev was most likely the only person Akaashi wouldn’t be suspicious of, whatever he asked.

“Akaashi-san” Lev asked with curious, big eyes, a genuinely confused tone in his voice. _He’s good_ , Bokuto thought.

“Akaashi-san,” Lev said again, and Bokuto reminded himself to act natural. It was hard to do so though, he was extremely curious what Suga had planned to what could give him some assurance. All he knew was that Suga had a plan. He had no idea what exactly this plan _was._

“What exactly is your sexuality?” Lev then asked, and Bokuto barely held back a bark of laughter. Suga didn’t beat around the bush, _ever_ , did he? Suga knew Bokuto was afraid Akaashi wasn’t gay, since he never spoke about it, and of course Suga already knew of his sexuality and all, so that was why he’d asked Lev to do it. The satisfied grin on Suga’s face made Bokuto roll his eyes. Unbelievable.

Then Lev was suddenly speaking again, and Bokuto quickly forced his concentration back on their circle again. He didn’t want to miss anything.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking that, but I could ask anything, right? My… gaydar is pretty strong, I could even sense it on Mori, but I can’t see it on you. So I really got curious because if I’m right, If you’re not straight, then no one in our group is.”

Ah. Also hinting at Bokuto’s non-straightness, huh? Suga was a freaking _genius_.

Keiji was silent for a moment. “It’s fine,” he then said, “I’m gay, and demisexual. But I think you’re right, then, no one here is straight.”

Out loud, Bokuto chuckled, but on the inside it was like he was set aflame. His mind was screaming. _He’s gay too_ , it yelled. _Then maybe you have a chance! Or not, but now there’s at least the possibility of him considering you!_

They _needed_ to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehehe.  
> i didnt really like it but kay if you did please leave a comment or kudos?!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which they talk (fight) and make up (not out)  
> (yet)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay me its early  
> i think tons of you will really like this chapter? i like the next one more heh  
> this one's actually almost 2,5 k and whoops but theyre only gonna get longer from now on, probably almost 3k but i dont think thatll be a problem ;)  
> also change of plans; its gonna have 21 chapters instead of 20.  
> i already wrote them out in my notebook. completely. my wrist hurts now. and we have freaking many hits now, thanks!

**_Akaashi Keiji_ **

A few hours later, everyone had finally left. Well, everyone but Bokuto. It was making Keiji nervous. Bokuto must hate him now, Keiji was sure of it. He’d been flat out ignoring Bokuto, had been acting like Bokuto didn’t even exist anymore.

Keiji knew Bokuto didn’t like it. Bokuto always faced things head-on, didn’t beat around the bush, didn’t hide his feelings or ideas to others.

Keiji admired that a lot, but he just couldn’t do that for himself. He simply couldn’t allow himself to accept his feelings for Bokuto.

Keiji wasn’t stupid. In the two and a half months they’d known each other, Keiji’d found himself denying his feelings more and more every week. To be honest, he had found Bokuto endearing and quite attractive since day one, and those feelings had slowly only grown as he continued to find out more about Bokuto.

 Keiji knew it wasn’t just a stupid crush, he knew that he actually liked Bokuto a lot, but he really didn’t want to admit it. Didn’t let himself admit it. As long as he said it wasn’t so, it wasn’t, right?

He was demisexual, even _if_ Bokuto returned his feelings it would take a long time for Keiji to fully open up to him, both emotionally and sexually.

He also didn’t know how Shouyou would react. Shouyou liked Bokuto, but as a new uncle and friend, not as a second father figure. Who knew if Bokuto even wanted to be involved with Shouyou like that?

They most likely wouldn’t even last long, because no matter how considerate Bokuto could be, he wasn’t very patient. He tried, he really did, but he _wasn’t,_ and Keiji needed time. He was afraid Bokuto also wouldn’t be able to be patient with him and leave once he got tired of waiting. And even though he knew Bokuto would never just leave, he was still afraid.

Maybe Bokuto didn’t even like Keiji like _that_. He was probably just going overboard again.

 _See_. This was exactly why Keiji didn’t let himself accept it. He couldn’t get too hung up over this, it would get him nowhere, only distract him.

 

***

“’Kaashi, I’m really curious,” Bokuto said the seconds Keiji walked back into the living room. Keiji sat down and cautiously looked at Bokuto, who sat in the love seat on the shorter side of the coffee table.

“About what?” Keiji asked, hoping to avoid the topic for as long as possible.

It didn’t work. _Obviously_.

Bokuto really wasn’t one to get angry often. He got ridiculous up and down mood swings, but those were mostly between enthusiastic or happy and devastated. Not mad.

Now, Bokuto was _livid_.

Keiji involuntarily winced at the harshness in Bokuto’s voice at his reply. This wasn’t the Bokuto he knew, and it was all _his_ fault.

“I think you know exactly what this is about,” he snapped. “First you avoid me like the plague, like I’m some monster, then when I ask you about it with the intentions to fix whatever I did, you lie about it! That’s not something friends do, Akaashi.”

Keiji winced again. This was the first time Bokuto had pronounced his name correctly, and the sound of it _stung_. Keiji didn’t want to fight with Bokuto, but he also didn’t want to admit his feelings, especially not to Bokuto himself, the subject of those feelings. Also, he was being way too loud.

 If there was anything Keiji didn’t want besides the obvious things (like going back to that place or fighting with his friend), it was waking up Shouyou _while_ fighting with said friend. Shouyou still idolized Bokuto. Keiji had wanted to keep some distance from Bokuto, but he didn’t want to include Shouyou in that.

“Bokuto, I’m sorry, I swear, but please be a bit quieter,” he said, desperation lightly oozing into his tone. “I don’t want Shouyou to wake up becau-”

“No, Akaashi, you shut up!” Bokuto interrupted, even louder than before. “I don’t want to hear it! You can’t just keep using Shouyou as an excuse for everything, anything. You can’t just keep running away, just because you don’t want to be confronted! For fuck’s sake, just be completely honest with me for once. Why were you avoiding me?”

Keiji sat back, swallowed. Bokuto’s words were all, one for one, like a slap to the face. Keiji could almost feel himself getting angry at Bokuto’s accusing words, but he forced himself to stay calm. Getting angry now would be anything but fair to Bokuto, since everything he said was true.

“Okay, fine,” Keiji almost whispered, voice shaking. “Yes, I was avoiding you, and since you really are hellbent on getting to know why, I’ll tell you exactly why I was doing that.”

It wasn’t anger that had managed to slip through that made Keiji’s voice shake. No, it was more like a mix of frustration and fear.

Keiji knew he wasn’t always completely honest, not even with the people he cared for and about. He tried, he really did, but he genuinely had a hard time talking about himself, found his own problems less important than others’, found it hard to open up to people.

Keiji knew he had enough people to blame that on, but he didn’t want to. Yes, they’d ruined him and his ability to put complete trust in others, but he was alright now and it was Keiji himself who held him back still. No one else was to blame for that.

“Yes, please do,” Bokuto hissed back, crossing his arms and leaning back in the love seat. He had an expectant, challenging look in his eyes. Like he was… daring Keiji to tell the full truth, like he was trying to tell Keiji he’d know if he lied or left things out. Keiji furrowed his brows into a frown. There was no way he was going to back down from such a blatant challenge.

“I was scared okay?” Keiji snapped, half-heartedly glaring at Bokuto. “I was scared. There, now you have it.”

Bokuto looked a bit surprised, but fixed his expression quickly. Keiji had never seen him take something this serious.

Bokuto obviously was not at all satisfied with Keiji’s short answer. He probably wanted to know _everything._

“Scared what for?” he then asked, sand Keiji was sad to hear the underlying insecurity. “It wasn’t anything I did, right?”

Keiji’s frown deepened at the concern he heard in Bokuto’s voice. He knew before that the man was insecure, a lot more than you’d think on first glance. He seemed to be always excited, but in his eyes lied worry almost all the time. Worry that he was too much, that Keiji would get tired of him soon. Well, news flash; Keiji wouldn’t, and he had the feeling he’d never be able to.

Right now, Bokuto was worried about that too. Keiji just knew it. Felt it. Bokuto was again worried he was being too much, afraid that Keiji would kick him out of his house if he pressed on too much, was afraid he’d actually done something for Keiji to be scared, was afraid Keiji would hate him.

Keiji sighed softly and sent Bokuto a weak smile, but it was the strongest he could muster right now. He wanted to assure Bokuto, make sure Bokuto knew that he hadn’t done anything wrong, wanted to leave it at that, but he knew they had to keep talking.

He didn’t want to, but they needed to work this out right now, or Keiji was afraid they’d forever stay half-friendly, half-fighting with each other, and that was the last thing Keiji wanted. So, Keiji shook his head.

“It’s not you, Bokuto. Well, it is, but you didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t. It’s just… I’m getting scared of my own thoughts and feelings.”

Keiji took a deep breath, but didn’t take his eyes off the floor as he continued. “I just-  I am feeling things I can’t accept and I don’t know what to do with it. I can’t help it, Bokuto. So don’t worry, it’s all my fault.”

At this, Bokuto’s eyes grew more concerned again. Keiji just caught the worried glint as he slowly lifted his head “Is something wrong, ‘Kaashi?” Bokuto asked, and Keiji had never been so discouraged and relieved at the same time.

 “Are you maybe not… not healthy?” Bokuto continued, and Keiji felt like he could burst out in tears any second. “If so… If you’re sick, then I’m sorry for being intrusive.”

“No, no,” Keiji said, smiling a watery smile.  This was so frustrating… he wanted to be able to tell Bokuto what was on his mind, but he himself didn’t even know what exactly that was. Keiji was sure of his feelings, but wasn’t sure what they meant, wasn’t sure if saying them out loud would change their friendship. He didn’t want to risk it, but he knew he needed to say _something_.

Bokuto was worrying for him, even after all Keiji did to get away from him, and Keiji desperately wanted to stop his ‘taking a step back’ plan, but he knew he couldn’t do that without facing his feelings first. He couldn’t do that. Keiji wasn’t a coward, but right now he was _terrified_.

Keiji felt his eyes growing wetter with frustration, felt tears welling up behind them and he blinked furiously to keep them back. Crying would get him nowhere, and it wouldn’t make the situation better for Bokuto either. He could not cry right now, he couldn’t.

He hadn’t cried for years, maybe even more than five. Keiji couldn’t even remember the moment clearly. It must’ve been after the first time they- Ah, well. It had been in his ‘bad place’.

  _No,_ Keiji scolded himself again. _No thinking of the past_. _It’s all over now, has been for a long time. There’s no need to get hung up over it again._

“That’s not it, Bokuto,” he said, voice still a bit shaky. “I’m not ill. I- I just sometimes-”

Keiji’s voice cracked at the last word, and he took a few deep breaths. Why was this so hard? Why couldn’t he just say what he needed to say and get it over with?

“Sometimes I’m around you and I- I don’t even know, I just can’t stop thinking and I don’t even know what I’m feeling anymore. It’s driving me crazy, Bokuto, and I want to fix it but I don’t know how. This- This is weird, strange- It’s not like _me,_ I- I’m supposed to be in control, aren’t I? Well, I’m not, and its freaking me out.”

Keiji kept his eyes trained on his knees. There. He’d laid out all his doubts and feelings and thoughts (almost, he didn’t say anything about how attractive Bokuto could be to him) for Bokuto.

He didn’t want to face him right now. Didn’t want to see his face, didn’t know what he’d do if he looked at Bokuto right now.

Because of that, he missed the way Bokuto’s eyes widened considerably and slowly started to fill with unshed tears of his own. _Happy_ tears. What he didn’t miss, was the watery gasp that came out of Bokuto’s mouth.

“’Kaashi,” he said, sounding ridiculously giddy but careful at the same time. “’Kaashi, do you mean- is it okay if… ‘Kaashi, I like you! Like, _like_ like! I feel like that too, when I’m around you, all the time.”

 

Time stopped for Keiji. Bokuto… _liked_ him? As in, romantically?

“Yeah,” Bokuto said, and the tone of his voice almost gave Keiji shivers with the adoration clear in it. Apparently, he’d asked that out loud.

“I- I-” Keiji spluttered, not able to form coherent thoughts or sentences right now. He lifted his head, just in time to see Bokuto’s sweet expression morph into one of shock, terror, embarrassment.

“Oh my god, I was too forward, wasn’t I? I- You probably don’t even like me back, you deserve a lot better! Um… yes, that- sorry, ‘Kaashi, I was kidding! It’s a joke, _ha ha_ -”

“No,” Keiji said, interrupting Bokuto’s nervous rant. He was back to staring at one spot on the floor, thoughts going wild, eyes wide.

Suddenly everything clicked into place.

“I- I think that’s it. Yes, that must be it,” he mumbled. “ _Damn_ it, why must Suga always be right?”

“What?” Bokuto asked confusedly.

His scrunched-up nose was… adorable, and now that Keiji finally let himself think it, lots of words to describe Bokuto he hadn’t allowed himself to use earlier flew through his mind.

Bokuto’s voice once again made his feelings so very clear, and he again marveled at how surprisingly calm he was now that he’d let himself admit it, how okay he was with knowing and understanding Bokuto this well. He was almost a little proud, even.

He almost always knew from how Bokuto acted how he was feeling, almost always managed to cheer him up by knowing what to say to do so.

They had done things together Keiji never would’ve done with anyone else he’d known for such a short time, like letting Bokuto take care of him and cuddling with him when he was sick.

 His mind also went back to four weeks ago, when they’d danced together to ‘Evangeline’ and had, again, cuddled.

He thought of how much he trusted Bokuto, with such a short period of time, thought about how at ease he always felt around Bokuto.

Yes, he thought. Suga was so right. And I’m so stupid for not knowing sooner.

“Bokuto, I- I think, no, I know- I- Christ, why is this so hard?” Keiji looked at Bokuto and saw the hope in his eyes. It gave him confidence.

 “Bokuto, I like you too. Romantically.”

An enormous grin broke out on Bokuto’s face, so strong it made his eyes crinkle at the corners. _Beautiful_ , Keiji’s mind supplied. Keiji could only smile back at him, hoping his face wasn’t all too red.

 “Then,” Bokuto said, sounding very relieved and happy, and surer than ever, “let’s date, okay?”

Keiji bit his lower lip almost subconsciously, doubts clouding his mind again. What if… “I-”

“I know, ‘Kaashi, it’s fine. Take as long as you need, I’ll wait for you. With anything, I promise I’ll wait until you’re ready.”

Keiji smiled gratefully. “Then yes, let’s date. Let’s try it,” he said, sounding almost as giddy as he felt. “But let’s take it slow, we’ve got enough time, right?”

Bokuto’s grin didn’t falter one bit as he nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine with anything, as long as I can call you my boyfriend now.”

 _Boyfriend._ That sounded… nice. Very nice.

“It’ll all fall in place later, we’ll be fine. We’ll figure everything out on our own time. And… thank you for telling me.”

 

 _Yes_ , Keiji thought. _We’ll be allright._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yes it happened  
> please leave a comment or kudos, or come yell at me @astinaea on tumblr (or twitter, or instagram rlly)  
> also you can send in commisions (kind of) like if you have a prompt/au and pairing you'd want me to write hmu on tumblr and i can put it into the tumblr prompts work that i have now succesfully been abandoning for two months (actually its exactly two months today heh)


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; in which everything goes well but hey then bokuto meets someone and is that a good or a bad thing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back waaaaayy early with a ton of drama  
> ha its me with a full chapter of bokuto pov hA AM I NOT A MARVELOUS PERSON
> 
> the ending is not yet happy guys hAHAHA first more bullshit. but hey what did you expect im excellent at bullshitting and there were five more chapters what was i supposed to do

**_Bokuto Koutarou_ **

Bokuto was practically over the moon with content happiness. It had now almost been two weeks since he’d confessed to Keiji. They were indeed taking it slow, for nowadays’ standards, but it had been the best two weeks of Bokuto’s life.

They’d gone on a few small dates to get used to the idea, and Bokuto just _knew_ he had already grown very attached to Akaashi.

The dates hadn’t been much, just watching a movie together at their own places, simply ordering take-out and cuddling, walking around the park holding hands…

They had all been simple, but it were the simple, genuine things that Bokuto loved the most. Also; he loved cuddling with Akaashi.

In the beginning, the younger man had been a bit stiff and uneasy, but he had quickly enough relaxed and cuddled him right back. It all felt so natural, like they had been doing it for two years already instead of two weeks.

Akaashi also had the perfect build; he fit perfectly against Bokuto. He was a bit smaller and a lot thinner, less broad, but anything but fragile. _A perfect little spoon for me_ , Bokuto thought contently.

Their best date-slash-meet-up was most definitely the one of three days ago, which was also the last one they’d had until now. They’d just had another night (at Bokuto’s this time, Shouyou was on a sleepover at Tobio’s) of just ordering take-out and lazing around together on Bokuto’s couch

At one point Akaashi had sat up and taken Bokuto’s hands in his, forcing Bokuto to sit up as well. They’d just sat there for a while, facing each other, not saying anything. Akaashi hadn’t looked him in the eye, and Bokuto had quite honestly been scared Akaashi was already going to break up with him.

What had come out of his mouth, instead of a break-up, was a story. A story about Akaashi himself.

He hadn’t told all that much, but Bokuto could easily see it was hard for Akaashi to talk about it. He didn’t mind that Akaashi hadn’t told him a lot, he was already extremely happy Akaashi was opening up to him and showing him his thoughts in the first place.

He’d told Bokuto about how his parents had forbidden him from seeing his little sister at the age of twelve, about him being kicked out when he turned fifteen, about living with his aunt and uncle for three more years until being left to fend for himself completely.

Bokuto had indeed been happy Akaashi told him, but he was also _raging_.

“You have a little sister?” he had asked.

Akaashi had nodded, his eyes growing wetter with unshed tears. It was clear to Bokuto he missed her. How could Akaashi not? Bokuto knew he would’ve missed her like _crazy_ , had he been in Akaashi’s place.

“Yes,” Akaashi answered, sounding surprisingly happy and composed. “She was four years old when I last saw her, so she must be sixteen now,”

“So you’re telling me you haven’t seen your own sister grow up, haven’t even seen her for _twelve_ years? Does she remember you?” Bokuto then had asked.

A tear had slipped out from under Akaashi’s composed façade. Bokuto had held him close to his chest for the rest of the evening, rubbing his back with soft, soothing motions.

“It’ll be okay,” he’d promised softly. “You want to find her, right? I’ll help you. You can count on me. _We’ll_ find her.”

When Akaashi had left that night, he’d waited at Bokuto’s door and smiled at him. it had struck Bokuto like a slap to the face, again forcing him to realize what a wonderful and beautiful person Akaashi was, and how absurdly lucky he was to call Akaashi his boyfriend.

“Thank you, Bokuto,” Akaashi had said, gorgeous smile still on his face. “No, Koutarou. Do you mind if I call you by your first name?”

Bokuto had actually asked for Akaashi to call him Koutarou two weeks ago, the day after they’d gotten together, but Akaashi had not yet used it before. His face was aching with how big and happy his smile was.

“Of course, Keiji.”

They had both flushed a bit, and Bokuto had been ready to say bye, but Akaashi hadn’t been finished yet.

“Koutarou, I know is been short, but- You’ve been really good to me. I- I really, _really_ like you. Probably more than I should. Thank you for everything.”

Bokuto’s smile had turned a little sweeter. “Me too,” he’d said, almost surprised at the amount of adoration even he himself could hear in his voice. Akaashi had heard it too, judging by the look on his face.

They’d shared their first kiss that night.

 

He rounded the corner, on his way back to the canteen to say bye to his colleagues, when he suddenly heard Keiji’s name being called. Almost on instinct, he turned around to see where it came from.

Weird. There was no one in the lobby, except for the receptionist and a young girl.

“Sorry young lady, but it doesn’t work like that. how old are you even?” He caught the old lady saying.

Bokuto scrunched his nose. He’d never liked the old hag, she always glared at him when he and the other guys were being too rowdy for her liking. He and his coworkers weren’t very close out of work, Daichi being the only exception., but when on duty he was pretty friendly with his other colleagues. Well, the old bratty woman didn’t like that, so in turn Bokuto didn’t like her. And now she was only making it worse by being mean to a young girl.

“But-” the girl said with a clear but desperate sounding voice. “You really can’t help me? I’m serious, miss, I really I really need to find him!”

Bokuto frowned when the woman just shook her head again and decided this was a good moment to jump in. He didn’t have much else to do anyway.

“Sorry,” he said, walking closer with a friendly smile. “I overheard your- discussion, on accident, can I maybe help?”

The girl looked immensely relieved at Bokuto’s offer. _Poor thing_ , Bokuto thought to himself. _She can’t be much older than sixteen. Maybe seventeen, tops._

“Yes, sir, if you can?”

“Don’t worry,” Bokuto replied, “my shift is over now, my substitute is here already. What do you need help with?”

The desk lady (aka old hag, aka witch) scoffed. “I’ll leave you to it then, if you’d clear my desk now...”

“I need to find someone important to me,” the girl said, stupid desk lady long forgotten. ( _Good.)_

“Oh, I know a lot of people! And the people I know also know loads of people, and so on,” Bokuto said cheerily. “But please wait here for a bit, I’m gonna tell the guys I’m out and change, then I’m all yours.”

“Okay, thank you so much,” the girl said, taking a seat on the other side of the lobby (far away from the desk witch). When Bokuto returned again, ten minutes later, she’d stood up again and was nervously rocking back and forth on her heels.

“You look stressed, calm down,” Bokuto said, handing her the other cup of coffee he’d picked up on his way back down. “Here, I hope you like coffee. I put some sugar in it, that okay?” he asked, taking a big sip of his own (very much sweetened) coffee. If he drank it now, maybe Akaashi wouldn’t scold him tonight for inhaling too much caffeine and sugar. It didn’t do much good for him, but he kept taking it anyway.

“I usually drink it black, but thank you,” the girl replied politely. She didn’t look to be fully at ease around Bokuto, but Akaashi had told him he looked very intimidating to some other people so he was okay with it.

“Let’s get down to business!” Bokuto cheered, gently (as gently as possible) pulling the girl out behind him, away from the police station. He knew it wasn’t supposed to go like this, but he didn’t feel like going back inside so he decided to just try help the girl as much as he could on his own. He had to hold himself back from continuing the Mulan song, but he managed. Just barely, but he _managed_.

“Who is this person you’re looking for?” Bokuto then asked, a bit business-like.

They started walking in the direction of the park closest by. “Yeah,” the girl said, “I suppose I’ll indeed have to explain the situation to you. It’s a rather confusing story though, I don’t get it completely myself either. I’ll try to tell you the parts I understand, okay?”

Bokuto chuckled to himself, finishing off his coffee as quickly as possible.

“Well,” she started, and Bokuto listened with rapt attention. “We had a school project on family we had to submit last week, but I didn’t really have a big enough family so I needed more material. Then I found a picture, and I did some research. _Turns out_ , I have an older brother I haven’t seen in years.

I remember bits and pieces of him, but I was very young when we parted. I never knew he was my brother, though. My- my parents said they separated us because he was dangerous, but I saw the picture and I didn’t believe them. I have to find him; I have to settle things. I want to know the truth. I hope he still lives somewhere around here, it would be really hard to find him otherwise. I mean, Tokyo is big, it’s still going to be hard to find him, but I know at least where to start looking.”

Then her expression suddenly grew panicked. “Oh man, I do hope he’s still alive though. I have no idea if he even had a place to go after he left.”

 

Bokuto swallowed loudly. The girl’s story sounded very… _familiar_ to Bokuto, but he couldn’t place it. “What-” he started. His voice sounded embarrassingly squeaky, so he coughed and tried again. “What are you and your brother’s names?”

The girl shot him a slightly concerned look before looking back at her coffee and taking a small, hesitant sip.

“My name is Kamiko,” she said, nonchalantly shrugging. “Akaashi Kamiko.”

Bokuto stilled. “I- I’m Bokuto Koutarou, nice to meet you,” he forced out. “And your brother?”

The girl – Akaashi Kamiko – looked at him curiously again. “Um.. If he’s still unmarried, or single, or- yes, unmarried- Then it should be Akaashi Keiji- B-Bokuto-san? Are you alright?”

Bokuto had dropped his cup. He was staring at the light stain on the sidewalk his last drops of coffee had left, frozen in step.

 

Needless to say: No. _No_ , Bokuto was not at all alright.  “C-could you repeat that?” he managed to say, still standing completely frozen on the sidewalk.

“Which part, the name or if he’s unmarried?”

“Yeah,” Bokuto replied, not even having heard the question properly.

“Oh, okay,” Kamiko said. “I said that if he didn’t change his name or is still unmarried, his name should be Akaashi Keiji. Is there something wrong, Bokuto-san? Do you maybe know him?” At her last question, she got a hopeful, excited look in her eyes. “He’s alive?”

Bokuto swallowed again and forced himself to man up and look Kamiko in the eye. “He’s unmarried, but not single,” he said a bit stupidly. It was the only thing that came to mind, and he resisted the urge to hit himself.

“You know him?” Kamiko exclaimed, suddenly extremely excited, almost hopping up and down next to Bokuto. “Is his boyfriend nice? Mom told me he was gay, that’s why they didn’t like him in the first place and she said he from then on only ruined it further, but whatever sexuality he has is okay of course, I don’t really mind. I’m really curious! Can you please tell me more about him, or are you not that close?”

After Kamiko’s rant, Bokuto took some time to sort out his thoughts. So the girl, standing in front of him, happy to know Akaashi was alive, l _ooking_ for him, was Akaashi’s younger sister he’d told Bokuto about. In the flesh.

“I-” Bokuto took a deep breath and steadied himself on the (seemingly randomly placed) wall next to him.

“I- He’s doing really well, we actually have been pretty close lately. Christ, what a coincidence. I- his boyfriend… I don’t think I’m the right person to judge if he’s nice or not, since- no, that’s, I- He also has a son, you know. A kid. Shouyou. He’s four, an adorable boy. Keiji adopted him three years ago, though I didn’t know him yet back them. I- no, wait, I’m being stupid, of course she can know that-”

“Bokuto-san? Breathe, okay? I’m in no hurry.”

Bokuto looked at Kamiko and was happy (relieved) with what he saw. When he’d first heard she was Keiji’s sister, he’d been afraid she would be disappointed, because well, Keiji was gay, in a gay relationship with another gay man, said other gay man being him.

 All Bokuto knew was that Akaashi’s parents were dicks. He had no idea if they’d influenced Kamiko’s views of society and was or wasn’t acceptable as well. He’d been afraid Akaashi’s homophobic parents had caused for Kamiko to grow up homophobic as well.

Instead, all he found was a confused young girl who just wanted to meet her older brother, regardless of his lifestyle.  Bokuto shot her a warm smile, having calmed down a bit.

“Well,” he said, starting over, “Keiji’s boyfriend- you’re actually standing right in front of him. That is, me. I’m Keiji’s boyfriend. We’ve only been dating for two weeks, but I’m his first boyfriend. He’s also my first boyfriend, but he doesn’t know that yet, I think.”

Bokuto chuckled out loud at Kamiko’s quick change of expressions; first confused, then realization. Then excitement. Bokuto was happy to see she at least accepted it. at least, he assumed she did, if her big grin was anything to go by.

Then Bokuto turned more serious. “I’m guessing you’re nervous, I would be in your situation.”

Kamiko’s grin shrunk a bit. “I- I’m afraid he doesn’t remember me, or… or associates me with our parents and doesn’t want to see me.”

Bokuto smiled and pulled the girl in a big hug. “Don’t worry, Kamiko-chan, he’s actually recently told me about you and his past. He’s been planning to go look for you himself, kind of. Guess we beat him to it, huh? Let’s go over to his home, I was supposed to go over tonight anyway!”

“Are you sure?” Her words were muffled in Bokuto’s shoulder.

“I- Well, I think. Come on!”

 

On their way there, Bokuto had the mind to text Akaashi to tell him he had a big surprise for him.it would probably be a big shock to Akaashi, and Bokuto dearly hoped his impulsive decision wouldn’t turn out to be a bad decision. A ten-minute walk later, Bokuto stepped in front of Kamiko to ring the doorbell.

“Nervous?” he asked over his shoulder. A tiny ‘yes’ was only barely audible. Bokuto snickered, but it was a shaky sound.

“To be honest, me too,’ he said. “I hope he takes it well, not only for me but also fo you. A nice family reunion would be a good thing for tonight, don’t you think?”

Just as he finished his sentence, he heard footsteps behind the door and a second later it was pulled open by Akaashi. With a very cute mop of bed head.

A wave of adoration welled up in Bokuto, and he smiled. He stepped forward and lightly pecked Akaashi on the lips. “Hi Keiji, I- I have someone with me as the, you know, big surprise. You- you might want to meet them.

Keiji’s sweet smile turned questioning. “Who is it, Kou?”

At the sound and sight of her brother, Bokuto heard Kamiko gasp and when he looked over his shoulder, she had her hands in front of her mouth, tears in her eyes. Bokuto stepped aside.

 

“Keiji, I’m sure you remember Kamiko.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> k i gotta be honest; this one (and 19 haha) is/are my favorite chapter(s) so i hoped you liked it too  
> if so, feel free to leave kudos or a comment of some/any part you liked or commission (? is that a word? eh) some cool headcanon/au @astinaea on tumblr maybe if im not too lazy (read; if i have the time)(and no not the other way around oops i use updating as procrastination material) ill write it


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; the shitstorm of emotions is Unleashed  
> also; The Talk (insert TM symbol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hA IM VERY VERY EARLY AGAIN hope you like it  
> k so this is an emotional shitstorm and also 3,1k words long where dID I GO WRONG  
> eh enjoy

**_Akaashi Keiji_ **

“I’m sure you remember Kamiko.”

Kamiko.  _Kamiko_ , as in his little sister Kamiko? Bokuto stepped aside, and Keiji stumbled backwards, eyes wide.

On his doorstep, behind Bokuto, earlier easily hidden by his broad shoulders, stood a young girl with striking, half-lidded green eyes, olive skin and dark curly hair.

“I- hi,” she said, her voice soft and melodious but broken and _no, please, don’t cry._ Keiji was still pretty gay, but he could easily see the girl was _beautiful._ And, without a doubt, Keiji’s little sister he hadn’t been allowed to see for twelve years.

He hadn’t gotten to see her grow up into the gorgeous young woman she was growing to be now, hadn’t been able to be there when she first went to middle school, high school, possibly got her first boyfriend…

_But she was here now._

She was here, wonderful, and standing right in front of him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Hi,” Keiji replied, voice as breathless as he looked (and felt).

“You’re- You're Akaashi Keiji?” she asked hopefully.

“And you’re Akaashi Kamiko?” Keiji asked in return. He couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from tilting up, in the most happy and watery smile he'd ever smiled.

Then her lip began to quiver, and then she was crying, flying into Keiji’s outstretched arms, embracing him strongly.

“Nii-san,” she sobbed, “I’m sorry. I'm so, so sorry. _Sorry, sorry, sorry-_ “

“No, no, no, no.” Keiji said it like aa mantra, trying to stop Kamiko from apologizing. He softly stroked her back, rubbing calming circles. “Shh, little sis. Don’t cry, don’t apologize, please. Nothing of this is your fault.”

Slowly, very slowly, Kamiko began to calm down. Only when her sobs stopped, did Keiji realize Bokuto (and he himself) had been crying silently as well. He quickly dried off his own tears and smiled up at Bokuto, urging him to come closer.

He stepped away from Kamiko, and she tightened her hold for a second, not wanting to let go so soon. Keiji smiled reassuringly at her. He wasn’t going anywhere. Not again. _Never again._

Then he slipped from her hold and stepped closer to Bokuto, gently wiping his tears away. “You brought her here?” he asked, but it was more a statement than a question. Bokuto almost looked… _nervous_ , and Keiji squeezed the hand that had found his, stroked Bokuto’s cheek with his other hand.

Bokuto nodded and rested his forehead against Keiji’s. “Yeah,” he said after swallowing loudly. “That’s- that’s a good thing? Is it?” Akaashi didn’t like how unsure he sounded of it, and looked Bokuto right in the eyes.

A huge smile spread on Keiji’s face, and he pressed a little closer to Bokuto. “It is, Kou. It’s the best thing you ever could’ve given me. I- thank you for bringing her back to me.”

Then Bokuto smiled a relieved, but proud smile that was so utterly gorgeous, it made Keiji’s breath hitch in his throat. All he could do (think of doing) was pull Bokuto even closer to him in a bone-crushing hug.

After a few seconds of just embracing Bokuto’s closeness, the two of them wrapped up in their own happy little bubble (of mushy feelings), Keiji stepped back and led Kamiko and Bokuto to his living room, only barely remembering to close the front door.

Once they were all seated, Bokuto on his usual spot next to Keiji and Kamiko in the love seat, Keiji turned to Bokuto curiously. “How did you two meet each other by the way?”

Kamiko smiled a (still a bit watery) smile. “I think it starts with me,” she said, looking only at Keiji. “I… found an old baby picture of me, and you were in it as well. I asked mom and dad, they told me a bit about you, and that I-”

She suddenly choked up a bit, and Keiji already had a feeling of what was coming. He urged her to continue.

“They… they told me not to try to find you, not to look for you, because they said you-- Well, I didn’t believe them, so I went out to search anyway. All I knew was your name, that we looked alike and that you probably still lived in Tokyo. Oh, and that you’re gay, but that doesn’t matter. They also told me you were eight years older, but that was really all I had. So I went to the police station, but the bitchy desk lady didn’t want to, or well, she said she couldn’t but I doubt that… Ah well, she didn’t want to help me, and then Bokuto-san walked in and when I mentioned your name, he immediately told me he knew you and then took me here.

That’s the story, I guess, since, well, here we are.”

Keiji smiled, cuddling a bit closer to Bokuto again.

“I was planning to search for you as well, but… I had no idea if you even remembered me, and if so if you even wanted to meet me. I was kind of planning to go look anyway, but you two beat me to it,” Keiji explained. “So, you… Tell me a bit more about yourself, about what you’re doing nowadays??

Kamiko chuckled. “I’d rather you tell me a bit more about you, I barely know anything about you.”

“You first,” Keiji said, and he felt the rumble of Bokuto’s laugh in his chest.

“Easy, you,” Bokuto mumbled, and Keiji smiled as well.

“Fine, alright,” Kamiko said. “Um… I’m almost in my second year of high school, I’m a late student. I- I’m not in any club, but I’m in the highest class. College prep. Mom and dad want me to mostly focus on studies, but I was scouted two years ago and now sometimes do some side modeling jobs as well.

It’s… I don’t have that many friends, actually, just two. One of them is the daughter of a business is partner of dad, so at stupid dinners or meetings we hang out together.

My best friend is from class, but- mom and dad don’t really… _approve_ of her. They don’t like her, or her family, her character. Her mom is out of the picture, and they don’t really have much money. She mostly takes care of her little brother, so she doesn’t have much time for school, plus she’s being raised by her dad now so he’s not very feminine. Mom and dad say she’s a bad influence, but she’s one of the strongest, most awesome people I’ve ever met!”

Keiji smiled at her enthusiastic description. It seemed their parents were still as controlling as they’d been when Keiji was twelve, though. _Back when he had high-key ruined their niceness and happy family life by coming out._ Kamiko seemed pretty happy, despite it.

“Your turn!” she sang, but Keiji didn’t hear it. he was deep in thought. He was happy Kamiko had such a good friend, but it made him sad to hear how much influence their parents were having (or at least, trying to have, since Kamiko was here and still with her best friend).

He was sad to hear they hadn’t changed, not even after they’d gotten rid of him. Rid of _Keiji_ , their ‘gay, delusional, dangerous and pathetic excuse of a son’.

“What’s her name?” Keiji asked absentmindedly. “Your best friend’s, I mean.”

“Oh,” Kamiko said. “The business friend is Haiba Alisa and the best friend is Tanaka Saeko.”

That, Keiji did hear. “Really?” he said, “Woah, that’s insane, what a coincidence! I mean, Saeko’s brother goes to my daycare and I also know Alisa’s older brother.”

“What?” Bokuto and Kamiko said at the same time. Keiji sat up straighter.

“Well, Haiba Lev is Yaku’s boyfriend and Tanaka Ryuunosuke goes to our daycare. I mean, I assume they’re their brothers?”

Kamiko was silent for a little while. Then she nodded. “Then,” she said softly, “then… then you were _so_ close all the time! I even went along with Saeko to the daycare once.”

“I don’t work on Fridays,” Keiji supplied.

“Wow, that’s… and that’s- that’s _your_ daycare?”

“Yes,” Keiji responded. “Well, I run it with two friends, Yaku and Suga. You must’ve met them, then.”

“I think, yes,” Kamiko replied. “But Bokuto-san told me you two are in a relationship and that you have a son! Please tell me more about you!”

“Ah, yeah,” Keiji said, a giddy smile slowly growing on his face. “Kou- _Bokuto_ and I have been seeing each other for two weeks now, but we’ve known each other for… I think three or four months, now. Three, if I’m right. We met through mutual friends. My group of friends is actually pretty big, but none of them know of our relationship yet. We want to see how long it will take them to find out, but they haven’t said anything so far.

About Shouyou… he should be coming home anytime now, he was playing at a friend’s house. I adopted him three years ago, he’ll be turning five in a few months. He’s a real sweetheart, but a bit hyperactive. You’ll love him, basically everyone does. I- I think that’s about it. I don’t have much going on at the moment.”

“But… what happened when you left? Did you really run away? Where did you go?” Kamiko asked curiously.

Keiji tensed up. “So they told you I ran away, huh?” he muttered angrily. He calmed down a bit when he felt Bokuto’s arms wrap around his waist, thumbs running gentle circles on his hips.

“You okay to talk about this?” Bokuto asked nervously but concernedly behind him. _That idiot Bokuto._ _Always worrying for himi._ Keiji gave his hands a soft, grateful squeeze.

“I’ll have to tell both of you one day anyway, so why not do it today and both of you at the same time?”

“So you’re fine with me staying?”

Keiji bit his lip and nodded. “Yeah, I- I could use the emotional support, I think. Please stay, I You deserve to know as well..”

Bokuto made a humming sound into the nape of Keiji’s neck, and he took a shaky breath.

“Well,” he started, “it began with me coming out when I was twelve. Mom and dad didn’t believe me, gave me an emotional trauma by keeping me away from you with everything in their power. They- I wasn’t allowed to go out much, just to school. That was it. They didn’t want me to put shame on the family name. Then when I was thirteen, they sent me to therapy. They wanted me to learn I wasn’t gay, that I was just making it all up.

That therapy… it was _awful_. All they did was just tell you, or better said, yell at you, about how bad being gay was and they made me look at girls, list off attractive features I couldn’t appreciate, and then it just started all over again. That kind of… ruined me and one day I came back and straight out told mom and dad I’d quit. I was homosexual and nobody could change that, and I was their son. They’d just have to accept it. I- they said they didn’t see any son here, said that if it had to be like that I wasn’t their son anymore. I had one day to pack my stuff and leave, so I did.

I wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye to you, they just brought me to auntie and uncle in the middle of the night. I stayed there for four years, but then I turned eighteen and they couldn’t help me anymore.

I lived on the streets for about three years until Suga found me. The streets are- they were… not a pretty place.”

Keiji choked up a bit and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down again. Only then he noticed the states the two other people were in; Kamiko was frowning, hands balled into fists at her sides, eyes wet with unshed tears. Bokuto’s arms had pulled him even closer, his hands had tightened around his hips. Keiji felt wetness on his shoulder, heard Bokuto’s ragged breathing.

Keiji smiled sadly and pried one hand off his waist, holding it in his own to assure Bokuto he was fine. He felt Bokuto press a soft kiss into his shoulder blade, and Keiji smiled again. Then he continued.

“I slept in another spot almost every night to avoid getting caught or robbed, until I found _The Shack_.  The people there just kind of… took me in. it was only a lot later that I realized they’d just been using me, after almost all my belongings had disappeared and I’d almost been arrested twice so they could get away.”

He took another deep breath. The next, and last part was also the worst, and Keiji was terrified to tell them. Especially Bokuto. What if he decided Keiji was actually a bad person? What if what he’d tell next changed Kamiko’s and Bokuto’s opinions on him completely? _What if Bokuto would leave Keiji?_

His… _feelings_ had only grown stronger over the time he’d let himself admit them (and embrace them). He really, _really_ didn’t want to lose Bokuto. He _couldn’t_. But, Keiji knew Bokuto deserved to know all of it, and so did Kamiko, so he continued his story once more.

“The group was a bad group of people, exactly the kind of people your parents would tell you to avoid, especially at night. The people you’d never want to run into. I was… I was one of them. They- I was young, and, as they said, ‘a _pretty_ kind of sexy’, so they used me to… _distract_ people so they could attack them and rob them.

As young and desperate for a place to stay as I was, I agreed and obeyed their every command. I flirted with a lot of people, all innocent people, even kissed with a few that were tougher to crack, just so they could always freely jump them.

I never received anything from them, only safety, but I couldn’t say anything. So, I also… _stole_ a lot, to keep myself good to go. To keep myself looking healthy and alive, so victims would still find me attractive, so I would still have at least a place to be kind of safe.

One day, when I’d just turned twenty, I’d finally manned up and ran away from The Shack and finally realized that how I was living was not at all normal, and that I lived in a bad place I needed to get away from.

I remember seeing Suga, Tooru and Hajime, just casually hanging around together. They were my age, but they were happy. I- I’d forgotten all about what happiness felt like, and when I saw Tooru and Hajime kiss I realized they must also be gay, so there must be people out there that actually _accepted_ it.

They just saw me being found by two older _Shack_ -members and managed to get me out. It… took a while, but I learned to trust them and let them help me.

Then I got my life back on track, with their help, and a year after I was ‘found’ Tooru and Hajime had just gotten married and adopted Tobio. The orphanage had another kid his age, a little older, but still only a _year_ old. They had asked if Tooru and Hajime knew someone able and willing to adopt him. They recommended me, since they knew I wanted kids. I wanted someone to raise _happy_ , like my mom and dad barely did, and that’s how I ended up with Shouyou.”

 

Once his story was, finally, finished, he looked down at his lap. He didn’t want to see the other’s reactions. He was so, _so_ afraid they wouldn’t believe it, or some of it, or wouldn’t accept him. He was, with everything he’d done at _The Shack_ , basically a criminal.

What he didn’t expect was to be embraced strongly from both his front and back. Even more tears from Bokuto were leaking onto his shoulder, quiet, shuddery sobs wrecking the usually so sturdy body behind him. Keiji smiled.

Bokuto was always the emotional one, and Keiji _adored_ him for it.

After a minute, Kamiko stepped back with a sad, but happy smile on her lips. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that,” she said, wiping her eyes, “but I’m happy you told me. It definitely puts mom and dad’s angry rant into another light. I’m sad I didn’t get to meet Shouyou yet, but I’ll- I’ll have to go now, nii-san. But- I’ll _definitely_ be back if you’ll have me.”

“You’re welcome here at any time,” Keiji responded warmly. Kamiko smiled, and left the apartment.

When he heard the front door close, he turned around and pressed his lips to Bokuto’s forehead. “Hey,” he said softly, “you okay?”

“Y-You shouldn’t be asking _me_ ,” Bokuto said weakly, his voice heartbreakingly sad. “You… You went through _so_ much, Keiji, you’re so _strong_! I can’t believe… God, I love you _so_ much.”

An incredible, unbelievable warmth spread through Keiji’s chest like a wildfire. Bokuto didn’t care about everything Keiji had done. He didn’t even care! He was _proud_ of Keiji. He thought Keiji was strong. _He loved Keiji._

“Ah!” Bokuto then suddenly exclaimed. “Sorry, I didn’t even notice it! I- I meant it, but it’s probably too soon, eh? I- you don’t have to say it back, I’m so sorry-”

“Say it again,” Keiji said, interrupting Bokuto’s rant.

“I- I love you?!

Keiji hummed something unintelligible _. Bokuto loved him_. It was probably indeed a bit soon, but not _too_ soon. It didn’t matter. Bokuto loved him, _him_! Keiji also had very strong feelings for Bokuto he couldn’t even properly describe, he-

He’d have to think about it.

 

That night, when Bokuto had gone back to his apartment after they’d put a dead tired Shouyou to bed together, Keiji grabbed his phone to text some more with Bokuto, like they did (almost) ever night.”

 **23.47 you;** I’m glad I told you everything, honestly

 

 **23.48 koutarou;** im sad, but happy you told me <3

 **23.48 koutarou;** i really meant what i said, keiji

 **23.48 koutarou;** youre amazing and i love you!!!!!

 **23.49 koutarou;** you dont have to say it back, go at your own pace

 **23.49 koutarou;** good night <33333

 

 **23.50 you;** Good night, Kou <3

**00.34 you;** I love you too.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls leave kudos or a comment if you liked it ;)


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; just a lot of sappy romance, you might want to grab a bucket

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..................  
>  i dont even have any excuses for this bullshit anymore, im just pulling the sappiest, fluffiest shit i can come up with out of my ass at this point and even have the audacity to like it. i threw up a little in my own mouth, several times, at this chapter.

Bokuto sometimes stayed the night at Keiji’s, now. It’d been two months since they (rather awkwardly) got together, and two months wasn’t that much time, but to Keiji they weren’t going too fast at all. He knew he’d feel like this was too fast with anyone else, but Bokuto had this strange, endearing way of making Keiji instantly feel at home whenever he was near.

Cheesy, he knew, but oh so true and wonderful. It felt really, really good. Keiji loved waking up next to Bokuto more than anything, with or without Shouyou’s ‘help’ on the waking up part.

He loved seeing that broad chest right in front of him, loved the feeling of the weight of his arm resting on his waist, loved the feeling of Bokuto’s strong arms pulling him closer to him when he didn’t quite feel like getting out of bed just yet. Bokuto was almost always awake earlier than Keiji.

Keiji loved to wake up with Bokuto’s (beautiful) golden eyes watching him, an honest, _loving_ look in them, but to him the sight of his peaceful, relaxed face, his rhythmically moving chest with the slow, loud breaths he took and the small noises Bokuto made when he slept were all even more beautiful.

He didn’t have all that much experience with relationships (or his relationship with Bokuto, seeing it was his first actual relationship) yet, but Keiji knew waking up next to Bokuto (almost) every morning was something he’d never get tired of.

***

Shouyou took the news of his dad being together with his friend ‘Mr. Bokuto’ surprisingly well. Keiji had been slightly afraid he wouldn’t understand it, and though he was more than willing to explain it to him, he wasn’t so sure how to do it without making the situation even more complicated for Shouyou.

He didn’t go to the daycare anymore, having enrolled in elementary school after the spring break, at the start of the new school year. He was in the same class with Tobio and many other friends from the daycare, and actually went to _school_ now, but he was still so _small._ He was growing up so fast, despite not even being five years old yet. Keiji almost didn’t want him to grow up, but he knew he’d have to one day.

He often reminded himself Shouyou still had a long way to go before he’d hit puberty, grow up, go to high school, discover himself, go to university, move out…

 

Shouyou’s reaction to the news had been so mature for his doing, but his childlike view of their relationship had still been so clear in his words.

“So, that means you and Mr. Bokuto love each other, right?” he’d asked, very maturely and seriously, almost looking a bit unnatural. Keiji had nodded. He’d been quite nervous , but Bokuto, who sat next to him through it all, was even worse. He had been shaking, and didn’t stop until Shouyou, after some time of thinking, had beamed widely and asked “so I don’t have to call him Mr. Bokuto anymore now?”

 

Bokuto had relaxed, finally, and shook his head. “Not if I’d be the one to decide. I mean- you can call me whatever you want, sunshine.”

Sunshine was Bokuto’s nickname for Shouyou, wanting something original (as expected). Every time Keiji heard him say it, his heart did a small flip. It sounded so natural, so nice, like they were an actual family already. Keiji was extremely happy with how well Shouyou and Bokuto got along.

Bokuto’s voice had been slightly shaky at the time, only barely managing to not completely choke yp. Shouyou had gotten a thoughtful look on his face, even more serious than before.

He first spared Keiji an unsure glance, before looking back at Bokuto and murmuring “Can I- can I call you Papa?”

He’d suddenly turned shy, not looking Bokuto in the eye anymore. Bokuto has turned to Keiji, crying- tears had been streaming down his face, a tight but happy smile on his face.

He was obviously overjoyed, and Keiji had never loved him more than at that moment. Keiji remembered smiling as well- he smiled, and smiled until his jaw hurt, hours after.

Bokuto had hugged both Shouyou and Keiji tightly to his chest, both at once with his big arms, Shouyou giggling and Bokuto crying happily and Keiji had felt so overwhelmed, so full of love for his little put-together family.

 

He and Shouyou had been doing just fine, but without even realizing it at first, _not fine enough._ But then Bokuto came waltzing into their lives, had swept the two of them off their feet with his careless grin and happy eyes and oh so easily, lovingly completed them.

Keiji wouldn’t have it any other way.

***

It was a few weeks after they told Shouyou that everyone else finally found out. It was at Shouyou’s fifth birthday party, about three and a half months into their relationship. everyone had probably assumed they were still dancing around each other, seeing how surprised they were.

The days had finally gotten a bit longer again, also warmer, thank god, the sun now offering so much warmth it was still a pleasant temperature in the evening, at dusk.

They celebrated Shouyou’s birthday outside (at the Iwaizumi’s, because Keiji didn’t have a garden or big enough apartment and they’d be invited anyway). It was nearing six p.m. and Shouyou was starting to get impatient, wanting to eat his cake already, so he was tugging on Bokuto’s sleeve repeatedly.

“Can you get my cake now, Papa?” he asked for the hundredth time.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go get it,” Bokuto said laughing. Keiji had the feeling he was the only one who had heard Shouyou call Bokuto ‘Papa’. Shouyou had been doing it ever since Bokuto had given him permission, kind of, to do so, ever since the day they told Shouyou about their relationship. They were all three fully used to it now, though it still made Keiji’s heart skip a beat sometimes when he didn’t see it coming.

What Keiji didn’t notice, was the weird look Tobio threw after Shouyou.

About three minutes later, Bokuto came back outside with the cake, Keiji keeping his hands folded tightly in front of Shouyou’s eyes to keep him from peeking.

“Daddy, is Papa back already?” Shouyou asked softly (except, maybe, for the fact that Shouyou was practically unable to speak softly), already knowing the one shielding his eyes was Keiji.

“Shh,” Keiji said, smiling, “almost”.

This time, he did notice the confused looks they were getting from Tobio. Damn, that kid was way too perceptive. All Tooru’s fault.

Keiji would like to be able to say he handles the situation like the totally not petty, perfectly mature adult he was, but- Ah, screw it, Keiji thought, and he stuck his tongue out at Tobio with a smug grin on his face.

The kid was way too nosy anyways. He was taking over way too many of Tooru’s habits and character traits to be considered healthy for his personality.

Tobio flushed red at being caught looking and he ran off to Tooru.

_Oh. Fuck. Should’ve probably thought about that beforehand._

Keiji still remembered Suga’s reaction when he found out Yaku had been dating Lev for two weeks without telling him. Bokuto and he had been dating for three and a half months now without even dropping any hints (or at least, not on purpose).

Suga was going to skin them. Both of them. Possibly alive.

Keiji decided he would let Shouyou have as much of his last, sad, happy birthday as possible, so when he saw Bokuto had finished lighting the five candles on the cake (actually managing to not completely set them on fire, Keiji was proud) and he let go of Shouyou.

 

 

“Go thank your Papa, he made the cake all by himself,” Keiji whispered in Shouyou’s ear before he could run off. That made Shouyou stop in his tracks, turning around, eyes wide with wonder and glee. “Really?”

Keiji nodded and smiled, nudging Shouyou towards Bokuto – Koutarou- before standing up. It was true, after all. It was Bokuto’s first time experiencing Shouyou’s birthday and as his new father, at that. He had been very insistent on getting cake-rights, without any help.

He wanted to make it special, and Keiji adored it that he cared so much about Shouyou already. It had taken him about five tries, but Bokuto was nothing if not persistent, so he kept trying until he deemed the sixth cake okay (and safe) to give to Shouyou.

It was endearing, really, to see the man he loved so much, try so hard to please his (their) son. It sometimes felt like he’d been there all along, or had at least always been supposed to be there. Side by side with Keiji and Shouyou.

He was being extremely sappy, he knew it, honestly found it a bit embarrassing, but it was the truth. Bokuto was like coming home in all the best ways, to a (finally) filled, happy house.

 

Keiji had a very hard time suppressing a very wide smile as Shouyou jumped Bokuto, the latter catching (always catching, strong and reliable as he was) Shouyou and spinning the two of them in circles, holding Shouyou high above his head.

“Thank you, thank you thank you!” he heard Shouyou exclaim in between loud giggles.

“It’s no problem, sunshine,” Bokuto said in response, also laughing as he stopped spinning and instead hugged Shouyou close to his chest, the small boy hiding his face in Bokuto’s shoulder.

Okay, yep, that was it. That was the point where Keiji’s self-control went out the window, he let it all slip and smiled, smiled so widely and full of love (he could just _feel_ it) that it was impossible for the others to not notice anything by now. And indeed, Suga was starting to cough into his first suspiciously, Daichi standing next to him with a smug grin on his face as he looked down at Suga, his face practically screaming ‘I told you so!’

Then Keiji noticed Tobio whispering something in Tooru’s ear, a bit further away, and that’s when Keiji knew there was _really_ no way out today.

He didn’t mind telling the others, not at all. Quite the opposite, actually. With how good (and that was very, _extremely_ good) their relationship had been going, Keiji was surprised neither Bokuto or he himself had yelled it from the rooftops yet.

(It was just that his mind kept reminding Keiji was an introverted person, someone who didn’t like confrontation about their personal life all too much.) Though, he managed to repress the urge to flinch when Tooru let out a loud gasp and an even louder, scandalized sounding “ _Ke-chan_!”

Instead, he kept his cool and turned around swiftly. “Yes, Tooru?”

“ _Akaashi Keiji_ , don’t you dare ‘yes Tooru’ me!”

Keiji grinned, but quickly covered it up with an innocent, confused frown. “Is there a problem, maybe?”

“Is there a- how _dare_ you! Is there- he actually has the audacity to ask if there’s- Iwa-chan, are you hearing this _bull_?” Tooru raved.

 

Bokuto always told Keiji he should smile more freely, since apparently, according to Bokuto, his laugh was ‘beautiful’- it wasn’t. not at all.

When Keiji full-on laughed, which didn’t happen all too often – due to _obvious_ reasons – it was always accompanied by teary, wet eyes and loud, ugly snorts. He had been smiling more freely as of late, though. All because of Bokuto.

Bokuto had transformed him into a much more (open and) trusting person than he’d been before, in such a short time. He had needed it. honestly, his life had changed a lot with Bokuto in it, and only for the better.

This time, though, Keiji actually laughed. Tooru’s expression and shocked rant were just too funny to be true – even Keiji needed to completely let go now and then.

 

“Eeh?” Bokuto yelled (screeched) from across the garden. “Keiji, what is it? I wanna laugh too!”

“Keiji? Iwa-chan, see? They-” Tooru choked out, half mad and half amused by Keiji’s shaking body from his laughter. “I just cannot _believe_ -” was all Keiji needed to hear before he was off again.

“Ooh,” Bokuto said, then getting it (kind of). “You didn’t realize? Like, anything at all? What, you don’t like me calling him Keiji?”

Tooru’s spluttering made Bokuto (and Hajime, in turn) laugh as well.

When they’d finally all calmed down a bit, (Shouyou somehow having settled on Bokuto’s shoulders), they heard a pointed cough from behind them, and oh, fuck. Somehow, in the ruckus, Keiji had forgotten all about Daichi, Suga and Yaku. And Lev, of course, but he most probably had no idea what the problem was and further unconcerned.

Two of those three were currently sporting matching murderous looks in their eyes. Suga’s held a soft glint over them, though. Like he was happy, or… proud, but forcing himself to be mad. Yaku didn’t, but that didn’t really bother Keiji. Yes, Yaku was surprisingly violent (and strong) for someone his size (though the same could probably be said for Suga), but Yaku basically always looked ready to murder someone. Keiji wasn’t all that worried about him. _Maybe only a little bit._

He wasn’t sure what to do if any of them didn’t approve of their relationship. He really didn’t feel like breaking up with Bokuto, like, ever, but his friends were basically his family. They’d taken care of him when no one else had, and Keiji couldn’t even imagine how his and Shouyou’s lives would’ve been had they not interfered.

“So,” Suga then said softly. It was indeed pride in his eyes, Keiji thought in a flash. It’s in his voice as well. “You’re _finally_ a thing, then?”

Keiji smiled and nodded, but of course Shouyou and Bokuto had to go and ruin it at least a little bit.

“Finally?” Bokuto echoed, laughing still.

“Yeah, they’ve been together for a loooong time already,” Shouyou added, still perched on Bokuto’s shoulders like a tiny kind on his throne, only exaggerating a little (big) bit.

Suga turned to Keiji, now only venom in his eyes and voice. “How long?” he hissed to Keiji, not exactly angry but very intense. Daichi also suddenly looked very focused on _him_ instead of on Suga.

_No, you can’t be serious._

“Three and a half months,” Keiji said.

“No,” Suga whispered dramatically, looking like his life just flashed by in front of his eyes.  At least, that’s how Keiji would look like if that were to happen. There was a very, very big lot of regret in his eyes.

Daichi’s eyes instead had started to shine, and he punched the air, exclaiming a victorious “Yes!”.

 _Oh, yeah. they so had, damn them_.

“You bet on them?” Yaku asked, voicing Keiji’s thoughts.

“Only a little bit,” Suga said, waving his hand in front of his face as if to wave it off like nothing. The despair on his face said otherwise.

“Now Suga will have to cook for me for the entire month, don’t you, dear?” Daichi said teasingly, pulling Suga closer at the waist and nuzzling his hair. Suga grumbled something, looking away, obviously pretending to be mad, but Keiji noticed the way he leaned into Daichi’s touch anyway.

“Hold up!” Tooru yelled again. “Stop what you’re doing right now, Kou-chan, Dai-chan! You’re distracting me from the real matter at hand.”

Then he turned back to Bokuto, who had walked to stand next to Keiji, Shouyou with both feet back on the ground. He was watching the entire scene unfold with his oh so cute but undoubtedly devilish little eyes.

“So, you two have been fooling around without even telling your best, closets friends anything about it?”

“We’re not fooling around,” Keiji couldn’t stop himself from hissing out.

Tooru, surprisingly, smiled at the obvious challenge in Keiji’s voice. “I didn’t think so, Ke-chan.” Then he walked closer to them and wrapped his arms around both Keiji and Bokuto in a bone-crushing hug, hiding his face in Keiji’s shoulder so no one but Keiji would know about the tears slipping out of Tooru’s eyes. Keiji felt them fall on is shoulder, felt them wet his shirt, knew what they were for. He hugged Toru back just as tightly with one arm, the other finding Bokuto’s hand, entangling their fingers.

“I’m so proud, Keiji,” he heard Tooru whisper, so lowly only he (and possibly Bokuto, but he didn’t know that for sure) could hear it. “I knew you could do it. please, for the love of everything that’s holy, don’t ever let this one go.”

Keiji wasn’t sure if Bokuto could understand it as well, but he squeezed Keiji’s hand tighter, Keiji squeezing right back. “I won’t,” Keiji said back, and all the others joined in on their pathetic excuse of a group hug. Even Tobio joined, clinging onto his father’s legs, not really knowing what was going on.

It didn’t matter, nothing really mattered. Keiji was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was a pretty long one again (?) of like 2.9 k so here ya go  
> hope you liked it, please leave a nice feedback or the moment/thing/whatever you liked most if you feel like it


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled; in which kamiko is a fucking savage and keiji is a sap (when will he stop being adorable)(hint; never)
> 
> Warning:(ALSO SPOILER WATCH IT) very light mentions of child abuse (its not that bad but kamiko gets smacked a few times and if you have bad experience/reaction to that i suggest you skip the part from "With no doubt better than you. So-”" to "Keiji was right,") a bit further theres also light mentions of blood but both are like one sentence so its nothing graphic at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ........  
>  i have no brakes, apparently  
> this one is 3.6 k. i'm not even sorry.   
> they also turn kind of evil (with very good reasons, dont worry and its not like theyre planning their deaths or smth) and i absolutely love evil keij/kamiko (fucking sibling goals)

_Kamiko’s teacher looked very pleased when he came walking towards the older man and woman. Well, older… the teacher himself was pretty old as well, already almost at the age of retirement._

_“I was very pleased with Kamiko’s works, as usual,” he said, and the man and the woman smiled pleasantly. The man could tell it was a bit fake, but he didn’t expect any less from them. They were never very in touch with their emotions._

_“We’re glad she did so,” the man said, “we try to motivate and push her as much as possible to work hard for her education.” The old man didn’t seem to hear it, or paid no mind to it._

_“But, of course, I expected nothing less as a daughter of you two and a sister of that other kid of yours- what was the boy’s name again? He- oh, right, that was Keiji. He was always so motivated and concentrated on his school work, and incredibly intelligent. Too bad I never saw him again after his graduation. Man, that must be years ago already!”_

_The man and woman looked at each other for a moment, distaste clear in their eyes._ Why must everyone always speak of Keiji when talking about their prestigious child(ren)? _The pair made a mutual decision through their eyes to not speak of him with the teacher. They should’ve known he’d be trouble. He taught Keiji as well, after all, a long time ago._

_The old teacher again did not notice anything (or paid no attention to it) and went on happily. “-You two raised him well, that one. Amazing boy he was. Always good grades, nice to everyone, polite, helpful and considerate-”_

Not as good as you’d think _, both the parents thought with shame._ After all, he ended up gay and insane.

_The old man rested his hands on his hips and sighed happily to the sky, thinking back to the dark-haired boy who had always excelled in his classes. “Yeah, it really is a terrible shame I never got to speak with him again._

_I’d like to meet him one more time, though Kamiko already did a very nice piece on him, and his son of course. ‘t Was very refreshing, y’know, to know he’s doing well! But, I’ll have to go now, I have a meeting to attend to, you just know you can be proud of your kids. Bye!”_

_“Yes, goodbye,” the woman spoke, smiling, but through gritted teeth. They then started on their way home. They had a lot to…_ discuss.

***

**_Akaashi Kamiko_ **

“I’m home!” Kamiko said, not too loudly because that would disturb her father in his work and only annoy her mother. ‘No yelling for a lady’, she always said.

“Welcome home,” her mother’s voice sounded harshly from the living room. Huh, weird. Usually she’d be cooking dinner at this time of the day. Kamiko was a bit late again, because she’d been video calling Keiji to talk with Shouyou, who already called her auntie. Kamiko couldn’t smell anything coming from the kitchen, no signs of dinner being prepared already.

She stepped into the living room and sat down at the dinner table, taking her books out of her bag to start on some of the homework. For almost half an hour, it was eerily quiet in the house, only the scribbling of Kamiko’s pen and the usual flipping of pages being audible. Her parents didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything beside the reading they’d been doing the whole time.

Then her father folded his newspaper and laid it aside. Kamiko tried not to jolt too much, they couldn’t know how nervous she was. Had she done something wrong?

“What grade did you get for your paper in the end? You never told us. I believe it was about family, am I right?”

Okay. This was normal. This, Kamiko could do in her sleep; politely answering all of her parents questions. Mostly about school. She could handle this.

“I got an A,” she said, managing not to sound too proud of herself. “My teacher really liked it, he said I have a very interesting writing style.”

“That’s good,” her mother said, also laying her book aside. When she turned around, alarm bells immediately went off in Kamiko’s head with the ice cold look her mother sent her way. _It’s just like that one time_ , flashed through her head _. That time when I asked them about Keiji. But that- that’s half a year ago, they can’t-_

Oh no. Her teacher.

“I suppose he was also quite pleased with the content?”

“Um… what do you mean, mother? He- he said I write well,” Kamiko said, trying to play dumb for as long as possible. How had they found out, why only now and not earlier? She had submitted the paper nearly five months ago, and had received her grade only one month after that. Why had they only found out now? Why not, like, _never_?

“Stop that nonsense,” her father yelled, slamming his hands down on the coffee table, standing up slowly. Kamiko tried her hardest not to flinch. “Why did you also write about that foolish _brother_ of yours? And don’t you dare try play dumb, your teacher has told us everything you wrote about him, and apparently, his _son_. How did you know more about him?”

Kamiko hated the way her father almost spat out the words ‘brother’ and ‘son’, like they were words almost too disgusting to even say.

“He’s _not_ a fool,” she replied without even thinking about it. When she heard the words come out of her mouth before she could stop herself, she knew she was done for. There was no more turning back now.

“So you have been talking with him?” her mother said, her voice cold, so devoid of- No. No, her voice had never held much love or appreciation, not for her, but also never so much hate. Not even when she’d forced her to talk about Keiji.

That time, it’d been directed at Keiji. Now, it was reserved for her and her alone. It scared her. _Her own mother_ scared her. “And don’t think of lying,” she added coldly.

 

It pushed Kamiko over the edge. Finally, after all those years, the bucket was full and on the brink of overflowing. She was so, so done-

“Yes!” she said, raising her voice as she (also) raised herself from her chair. “Yes, I’ve searched for him because I almost believed everything you told me, like I’ve always done, blindly, all my life, without even questioning it. I wanted to see for myself if he was indeed as insane as you said he was, would’ve told him off and left, had he been so. That would’ve been enough, would’ve made me more sure of myself, would’ve made me calmer. If only he _was_ insane!

He’s not, mom, dad, I tell you. Not at all. Yes, I spoke with him half a year ago, and his son and his partner, in his own home, with everything he managed to build up for himself through hard work alone. Because you two, his parents, his family, dropped him like a piece of dirt when he finally spoke up for himself, abandoned him while he had an emotional trauma that had been going on for a year already, caused by you may I add, left him to fend for himself at thirteen.

You ripped him away from everything he had, everything he loved most, traumatized him. that’s why he was like that, why he kept screaming and everything. He’s not insane, it’s all just your own faults!

He lived on the streets for years, mom. Did you know that? Did you know that your own child lived on the street, homeless and poor, who was in grave danger constantly for three years, as just a kid, until he was finally plucked off the street by his now-friends? Dad? Did you know that your oldest son, who could’ve become so fucking successful got no chances to actually develop himself and his talents, who had so many opportunities, actually never got the chance to even _try_ to be someone?

He’s a good person, better than you are, better than I’ll ever be. I haven’t met his son in the flesh yet, but I’ve seen pictures and talked with him over Skype, because I constantly had to be _careful_ of you finding out and I already know Keiji is in all ways possible an amazing father. With no doubt better than you. So-”

Kamiko’s rant was cut off by a sharp, stinging pain on the side of her face. And again, and again. Only once on the other side. _Lucky._

Keiji was right, t _hey’re_ the insane ones. Keiji was right. Their controlling natures went too far. They were too demanding, making it impossible to fully satisfy them and make them happy. They had called her the superior child, but now she was the one they hated, the one they beat up.

“If that is how it is, if that’s how you’re going to be,” her father’s voice said, somewhere through a thick fog, far away— “-then you’re no child of mine either. God, I don’t know where we went wrong, with either of you. Leave this house immediately.”

Kamiko tasted blood, and had half the mind to spit it out on her father’s shiny, expensive shoes and her mother’s pristine white dress. _Tch_. They were pathetic.

“I think I know where you went wrong,” Kamiko sneered, her voice slow and thick from dizziness. “How about in ever deciding to have children in the first place?” she spat out, accidentally actually getting some blood on her mother’s dress. The grip she had on her upper arm suddenly was a lot tighter, like a claw trying to rip her arm off.

It hurt, it hurt a lot and was most definitely going to bruise (very bad) but Kamiko couldn’t bring it up in herself to care. No way she would give her mother the satisfaction of knowing that.

“Get out of this house, girl, right this instant. I’ll call the cops.”

Kamiko chuckled, suddenly feeling a wave of distaste and amusement flow through her. Oh, the irony.

“Sure, do that,” she said, “you should probably know, though, that Keiji’s boyfriend is Bokuto Koutarou, the ace of the Tokyo police force, and knows me. Even if he wouldn’t be the one to come here, all they’ll need to see is a girl with striking resemblance to the both of you, with a beat up face? A model, even, with a beat up face? That could get you in quite some… trouble,” she said, knowing (and absolutely _loving_ ) that she had the obvious upper hand here.

Her parents had no good, sensible reason (according to the law) to beat her, to even lay a hand on her, and even if they did it would be seen as child abuse, since she was still underage and they had started it. Bokuto getting involved would only make it so, so much more satisfying for Kamiko.

 

They didn’t realize it, but the older Akaashi’s had just gained themselves a handful of very difficult, _dangerous_ enemies.

 

“Leave,” her father hissed, the fog having cleared up a bit. Still, her head felt very heavy, her limbs like lead and her vision blurry, but she managed to direct her smug smirk right at her father instead of the wall and said “gladly”.

She ripped her arm out of her mother’s grip and calmly walked up the stairs, quickly filling a travel trolley and backpack with some clothes and drawing utensils. She wouldn’t need much more, her modelling job bringing in enough money to buy more when necessary. She didn’t even have that many things besides that, except her phone. _Right, charger._

Forty minutes later, she was at the front door, waving happily at the man and woman, only her parents by blood, no longer by heart, before stepping outside, going exactly where she knew she’d be more than welcome.

 

***

**_Akaashi Keiji_ **

It was the day before Bokuto’s and his six-month anniversary, and Keiji was having the day of his life planning and preparing a nice dinner. He was not usually the person to initiate sappy, romantic moments but absolutely loved it when Bokuto did. Now, he wanted to do it for Bokuto in return for _everything_ he’d done for- and given Keiji.

He had never, ever expected for himself to be in a relationship with someone for half a year, had never expected for someone like Bokuto to love him as much as he did (and told him so every day), never expected to find someone he loved as much as he loved Bokuto.

Half a year wasn’t even that long compared to many other people’s relationships, but for Keiji it was a big deal. Had you told him a year ago that, in one year, he’d be in a six-month relationship with the most gorgeous, kind-hearted person who looked at him like the sun shone out of his ass, he most definitely would’ve laughed at you and then scolded you for making such stupid jokes about that.

Bokuto had come around, and completely flipped his world upside down. He’d done it slowly though, gradually so Keiji could grow used to it at his own pace. He’d done it so wonderfully Keiji almost couldn’t help loving him, like there was no other option but to fall in love with him.

He loved it.

It sometimes even surprised him how easily their relationship had come, how at ease they were around each other, and how big of an impact Bokuto had made on his life, changing it for the better (the best, probably). Especially since Keiji had never really been the person to talk or even think about having strong feelings about anything except his own little, safe bubble.

He still often pretended Bokuto tired him out, to keep him with both feet on the ground, but he knew of himself that if anyone were to ask anything about Bokuto all he’d be able to tell was loveable things, be it positive or not.

 

Keiji and Shouyou had just come home from the daycare, a bit earlier than usual. It’d been a slow day, and the few kids that were there had all been picked up again before three.

So, now Shouyou was playing in the living room, while Keiji was looking up nice recipes for tomorrow on the computer, occasionally checking if Shouyou was still doing okay (he was very quiet, not saying anything. The only sounds were the scratching of the chalks on the board Shouyou liked to draw on, accompanied with an occasional hummed tune).

Then, Keiji suddenly realized he even couldn’t hear the chalks anymore, and he peeked around the corner to find Shouyou sitting completely still on the floor, looking at the front door with big eyes. Or, more specifically, at the small, rectangular tinted window next to the front door.

“There’s someone at the door a long time, but no one’s knocking, daddy,” Shouyou said, noticing Keiji, pointing one small hand at the door. “And the person has a very big bag with them!”

Keiji frowned lightly before walking over to Shouyou and pressing a kiss in his hair. “It’s fine, Shou, continue playing. I’ll go take a look, okay?”

Shouyou nodded, but hesitated for a few seconds before turning back to his chalkboard. Keiji only barely heard him mutter “Please don’t get eaten, daddy,” his tongue peeking out from between his lips in concentration. Keiji smiled and ruffled his hair before walking up to the front door.

There was indeed someone standing in front of the door, constantly moving around but never knocking or disappearing. Keiji looked through the peephole, and when he saw the familiar figure he immediately opened the door.

“Kamiko!” he said with a warm smile. Then he noticed the big bag, and the mask on Kamiko’s face – she had told him earlier she despised wearing face masks. And the trolley… the hair in front of her face, the mask…

“Okay,” Keiji said, leaving no room for arguing. “You’re coming inside. Tell me what happened, right now.”

Once inside, Kamiko shook her hair back and pulled the mask down, revealing one cheek with a red shape of a hand on it and one completely bruised cheek, as well as a dried up blood stain on her chin and the side of her mouth.

“Fuck,” Keiji said under his breath, immediately understanding what had happened, knowing the cause of her damaged face – and the suitcase she’d pulled inside behind her.

“Okay, um… Stay here for a bit, I’ll get you something to clean your face up a bit,” he said, not wanting Shouyou to meet Kamiko with blood on her face. He couldn’t imagine Kamiko wanting that either, and he didn’t want to have to tell Shouyou about how she got it, being forced to tell him about his parents. It was probably unfair to Shouyou, but he wanted Shouyou to know as little of them as possible.

He didn’t want to have to tell him Keiji’s parents were mean enough to do that to their own daughter, was afraid Shouyou would become afraid Keiji would do that to him as well if he wasn’t nice, or if Keiji was mad enough. He didn’t want to take the risk.

Earlier, Shouyou had already overheard Bokuto and him talking about his parents, and had had nightmares for a week, never told Keiji anything until he found out himself when Shouyou screamed out loud one night. He’d had to ensure Shouyou, promise him he’d never, ever, _ever_ hurt Shouyou.

 

He quickly wetted a washcloth and went back to Kamiko, carefully cleaning the dried-up blood from her chin and around her mouth, finding the blood came from a split lip. He gritted his teeth as he cleaned the wound as well. _Those bastards._

“I’ll get you some salve for that bruise later, I think you’d like to meet Shouyou first, after all the talking you two already did,” Keiji said smiling, and led Kamiko to the living room as he saw her enthusiastic expression.

“Shou?” he said. “Remember Kamiko, daddy’s sister you talked with?”

“Yeah!” Shouyou cheered, darting out from behind his chalkboard. “Auntie! Is that her, daddy? She’s so pretty!”

“Yep,” Keiji and Kamiko said at the same time, laughing together at Shouyou’s energic attitude.

“Hi!” Shouyou then exclaimed, hugging her legs tightly, resting his forehead on her stomach. Kamiko laughed warmly, and Keiji’s cheeks ached with how big his smile had gotten.

After a moment of introductions and enthusiastic exclamations (from both Shouyou and Kamiko, she seemed to be a mix of them; having Keiji’s looks but Shouyou’s personality when she acted freely), Keiji gestured for Kamiko to sit down on the couch, sitting down in the loveseat himself.

“So,” Keiji asked, “what actually brings you here?” He actually already kind of knew the answer, but he wanted to actually hear it from Kamiko.

“Got kicked out as well,” Kamiko said simply. It didn’t seem to bother her all that much. Keiji hadn’t expected otherwise. “They found out I went looking for you and talked with you, thanks to our apparently shared second-year English teacher. Poor old man had no idea and started telling them all about how nice and stuff you were, not knowing of all the shit that happened. Luckily mom and dad didn’t know I was there when they were talking, otherwise I wouldn’t even have made it to the house in the afternoon.

I… used you for that project I told you about, and they found out, then I defended you and kind of told them they were sucky parents. They were _livid_. Told me that if I were going to be like that, I wasn’t their kid anymore either, so now joke’s on them. They’re on their own now, I’m done with tolerating their bullshit.

Honestly, if I’d never met you I’m sure it would’ve gone on for a lot longer without me even noticing anything was up. I’m glad I’m gone from that place now.”

Keiji swallowed. “Oh- I’m sorry for getting you in so much trouble.’

“Nah,” Kamiko said, waving Keiji’s apologies away with a nonchalant gesture. “You know even better than me that they’re the troublemakers. If anything, I’m getting _you_ in trouble with just barging in like this. But, like I said, I’m glad I’m gone.”

“No, you’re welcome here any time. You can stay here with us for as long as you want, we’ll fix it.” Keiji’s eyes got a dangerous glint to them. “I’m more worried for them, actually. They have no idea who they’ve just made enemies with.”

Kamiko snickered. “I’ve been thinking the same thing all the way here. With Bokuto and you, and me, they’ve got nowhere to go. I don’t even feel bad about thinking like that.”

“Then,” Keiji said, grabbing her hand, his face saying something entirely different than the familial gesture. “Then let’s take them down.”

Kamiko laughed out loud, but it wasn’t evil. It was happy, happy she had a way to get back at them for both the beating and (mostly) all they’d done to Keiji. “I’d never pass a chance to smash them, after all they did to you. What do you think? _Hell yes.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a long read for my doing, hope you liked it. all thats left is an epilogue and a bonus chapter (kind of two small ones turned into one that dont have much to do with the story but things i like anyways). please leave kudos or a comment, i live for attention.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> basically an epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS SO FUCKING CHEESY AGAIN I CANT STOP MYSELF WHAT HAS BECOME OF ME  
> also we've come pretty close to 5k hits can you believe this nonsense how-  
> and more than 50k words i have no self-control

They did it. They’d won, and all thanks to Bokuto, and their old teacher, and their aunt, their uncle, old neighbors and all other old witnesses.

They’d won the trial and their parents had been forced to officially resign as their parents and guardians, Keiji now having taken their place as Kamiko’s legal guardian.

They had also received an enormous amount of money, money their (ex) parents had held back from them, Keiji receiving even more as atonement for the guidance he’d badly needed but never received.

 

Once they got back home, Kamiko took the hints Keiji hadn’t been giving her on purpose, honestly, and left again with Shouyou, saying she would get ‘celebration ice cream’.

Finally alone again, Keiji pushed Bokuto down onto the couch and let himself fall into the seat next to him, lightly leaning into his side. Bokuto immediately (it was almost a reflex now) wrapped his arm around Keiji’s waist and let his head rest on Keiji’s hair.

“What’re you gonna do with the money?” Bokuto murmured softly (he was probably tired, he’d been up on his feet all day, taking care of all kinds of things).

Keiji smiled and rested his head on Bokuto’s shoulder. The case and trial had taken a big toll on all of them, but mostly on Bokuto. He was the one behind all of it, he had looked up all possible evidence, researched every single word of the law, constantly linking evidence and loopholes or prohibitions. All for Keiji.

 He had searched for as much evidence and witnesses as he could get his hands on, hoping to get some valid proof of child abuse and neglect, or anything else that could get the older Akaashis to at least pay what they hadn’t been giving them.

It was mainly thanks to Bokuto that they’d won. He’d given his everything, given all he had to take care of this for him, and Kamiko, and ultimately, Shouyou. While thinking about all this, Keiji was once again struck by the intensity and depth of his feelings for Bokuto.

It was scary sometimes, really, how much he’d leave behind for Bokuto. Kind of… almost everything? Not Shouyou, but aside that… But then again, one of the greatest things about Bokuto was that he didn’t _have_ to, never had. There was no reason for him to have to leave anything behind while chasing Bokuto, because Bokuto would always, always wait for him with open arms and accept, _love_ him for who he was, even with all the add-ons and baggage and drama he’d brought along.

Keiji, at this point, could barely imagine a happy future without Bokuto by his side.

“Hey, I’ve been thinking a bit, over the past weeks,” Keiji then began, and took in a deep breath. This was the perfect moment, and it would have to happen now, or else he’d never be able to work up enough courage again to do it. If he didn’t do it now, he’d just keep chickening out and then it’d take ages before they’d even get on the topic again.

After a silent hum from Bokuto, Keiji continued nervously. (Bokuto, of course, noticed the small tremor in his voice and hugged him a bit closer to his chest).

Yes, he had to do this now. Keiji was at least 70 % certain that if he asked now, Bokuto would not say no. He probably wouldn’t say no either, would Keiji ask it at another moment, but Keiji was too far gone now. He was going to do this, and he was going to do this _good._

“I have been thinking of moving,” Keiji said, as nonchalantly as possible. “You know, since Kamiko will be joining Shouyou and I permanently, or at least for a few years, and I think it’d be good for Shouyou to have a bit more kids to play with in the neighborhood, a bit more space, maybe a pet…

I – I have a lot of money now, so I would easily be able to afford a bigger house now. Like, not an apartment but an actual house, with a garden and a dog and – Koutarou, is something wrong?”

“Y- You-” Bokuto began, his voice wavering, sounding as distraught as he looked. He obviously tried to cover it up, but failed, and it made Keiji’s heart clench in his chest. Had he done something wrong? Was it something he said? Shit, um- shit, maybe he should recalculate that 70 %.

“You’re moving away?”

“Oh, no, I’d still like to stay in Tokyo, stupid,” Keiji said smiling. What would he want to do _away_ from Tokyo, where the daycare was, and all his friends, and most of Kamiko’s jobs, and most importantly, Bokuto?

Seriously, he didn’t need anything out of Tokyo. He had everything he’d ever wanted, everything he hadn’t even dared dream of, right here with him. In Tokyo.

Almost everything was perfect, just one thing a little off. What was so close, mentally, was now physically a lot further away than Keiji liked him to be.

“But you said you wanted more space? How are you- There aren’t-”

“Oh, shut up,” Keiji said, cutting Bokuto off before he could talk himself into a downward spiral, talk himself down, and then even further, until he’d get lost in his own thoughts and doubts.

“There’s more than enough space in Tokyo if you look at the right places. It’ll take some time to search a good place, but I’m not in a very big hurry. I don’t plan on ever leaving Tokyo, or at least not anytime soon,” Keiji said to assure Bokuto.

“No, I- I was thinking that... Well, you know Shouyou calls you papa already, or dad, and- I was thinking maybe you could come along with us?”

“No, no, I-” Bokuto half-whined, until Keiji’s words seemed to finally get through to him.  “Wait. Did you – are – What do you mean, come with you?”

“Do you really have to make me repeat myself?” Keiji grumbled, looking at his knees with great interest. “I was thinking you could maybe come along. Like, I mean – move in with us? With me?”

“Are you serious?” Bokuto asked breathily, lifting his head off Keiji’s again. “You… you really mean that?”

Keiji nodded and also lifted his head. His lips were immediately caught in a long, sweet and slow kiss, and Keiji’s breath hitched in his throat at the raw and pure, un-filtered adoration (and other oh-so sweet feelings that almost made tears swell up in his eyes) that was poured into the kiss.

“So I can stay?” Bokuto asked a moment later, voice (surprisingly enough, pretty quiet when they were together like this) barely louder than a whisper. Keiji chuckled, their warm breaths mingling at their steady inhales and exhales.

“For as long as you want.”

“So… what if I say I want to stay for a really, really long time, until we’re both old and wrinkly and pissy old men who trash-talk the ‘youth of nowadays’ together?” Bokuto asked cheekily.

“I’m taking this as a yes to move in with me,” Keiji retorted drily while struggling to keep himself from blushing of the promise of their future together.

“Yes, of course, who do you think I am,” Bokuto chuckled. “Now answer my question!”

“I’d love to,” Keiji said, smiling warmly at Bokuto (eyes and voice suspiciously watery). “All of it, I mean. But only if you promise not to cry at Kamiko’s graduation, or on the day she moves out, or when Shouyou goes to middle school, or high school, or graduating, or moving out, or either of them getting married and having children, or if _we_ ’d maybe adopt.”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Bokuto said, giggling with glee at the blatant promises of their (bright and beautiful) future. “I get it. No crying for me at overly emotional, tear-jerking moments in life. Sure. I can do that. Well, I can’t promise success, but I’ll try.”

“No,” Keiji said, his cheeks aching from his wide smile. “Promising not to cry would just be one big lie, _especially_ from you.”

Bokuto smiled and rested his forehead against Keiji’s. “You know me too well.”

“Forever,” Keiji replied, feeling very cheesy. (He loved it.)

But, “Forever,” Bokuto repeated, and that was it, because it was as simple as that, because that was what they were and would be. _Forever_.

 

***

Two years later, Bokuto Koutarou cries at Kamiko’s graduation. One year after that, Bokuto Koutarou cries at Suga and Daichi’s wedding.

Again two years later, it’s not Bokuto, but _Akaashi_ Koutarou who cries at his own wedding, along with Keiji, and Suga, and basically everyone else present, but that’s not the point.

He also cries at Yaku and Lev’s wedding, and the day, six years after taking her in, when Kamiko officially moves out, coincidentally also Shouyou’s first day in middle school.

Oh, and by the way, they both cried when they adopted their second child, a girl this time. Her name was Natsu, and Shouyou and she looked so much alike they could be taken for actual, biological siblings.

Then again, they also both cry at Shouyou’s high school graduation, and Kamiko’s first child, and, only two weeks after that, her wedding, and seven years after his graduation Shouyou’s own wedding, with Tobio nonetheless. (They’d all seen it coming for literal _decades_.)

They experienced some setbacks, for example the few months Shouyou got bullied for being adopted while they did not know anything about it, and Shouyou’s anger at them for not telling him about it sooner, not talking with him about it. _He’d known, but they hadn’t said anything_.

They had been fine again, very soon after that, and they all realized, kept realizing the small setbacks were just things they could get over together to become stronger. And so, at every milestone they reached together (Natsu still had a high school graduation, college and a long, hopefully, probably beautiful life in front of her) they kept going, crying happy tears together at their wonderful, little, self-formed family. Happy tears for their family, their beautiful, steadily growing family.

_Their forever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god what the fuck its basically finished i dont want this to be over-  
> only thing left is a bonus chapter ill probably have up somewhere next week. it's two happenings, not very important to the story but two small things i wanted to write about nonetheless.  
> i want to thank everyone that stayed with this mess of a story in advance, thank everyone for the wonderful support you've given me. i couldn't ask for more~~
> 
> if you liked this please leave a comment or kudos ;)


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